First Millennium Urbanism in Central Asia: Typology and Evolution of Dzhety-asar Settlements
In: Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to SiberiaSearch for other papers by Martin Goffriller in
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Higher School of Economics University Moscow Russia
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Higher School of Economics University Moscow Russia
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Abstract
Despite its apparent size and length of its existence, the Dzhety-asar culture of Kazakhstan remains one of the great unknowns of Central Asian archaeology, comprising, as it did, several dozen now-ruined settlements with an almost thousand-year long occupational history. First settled around the 1st century BC and gradually abandoned in the second half of the 1st millennium AD, the Dzhety-asar towns and manors were located to the east of the Aral Sea within the Syr Darya delta, and may have functioned as a core element in Central Asia’s medieval trade networks. Despite past research efforts by the Khorezmian Archaeological Ethnographic Expedition (KhAEE), the cultural and political history of the Dzhety-asar people remains largely unclear, with as yet no consensus on the political structure or their ethnic, linguistic and religious make-up. The present paper does not presume to answer these questions at this stage, as it is the result of two fieldwork seasons documenting and surveying Dzhety-asar settlements. It is, instead, intended to lay out the preliminary findings, presenting a revised typology of sites, and suggest initial hypotheses regarding the structure and possible evolution of the culture.
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First Millennium Urbanism in Central Asia: Typology and Evolution of Dzhety-asar Settlements
In: Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to SiberiaSearch for other papers by Martin Goffriller in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Higher School of Economics University Moscow Russia
Search for other papers by Irina Arzhantseva in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Higher School of Economics University Moscow Russia
Search for other papers by Heinrich Härke in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
Despite its apparent size and length of its existence, the Dzhety-asar culture of Kazakhstan remains one of the great unknowns of Central Asian archaeology, comprising, as it did, several dozen now-ruined settlements with an almost thousand-year long occupational history. First settled around the 1st century BC and gradually abandoned in the second half of the 1st millennium AD, the Dzhety-asar towns and manors were located to the east of the Aral Sea within the Syr Darya delta, and may have functioned as a core element in Central Asia’s medieval trade networks. Despite past research efforts by the Khorezmian Archaeological Ethnographic Expedition (KhAEE), the cultural and political history of the Dzhety-asar people remains largely unclear, with as yet no consensus on the political structure or their ethnic, linguistic and religious make-up. The present paper does not presume to answer these questions at this stage, as it is the result of two fieldwork seasons documenting and surveying Dzhety-asar settlements. It is, instead, intended to lay out the preliminary findings, presenting a revised typology of sites, and suggest initial hypotheses regarding the structure and possible evolution of the culture.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 83 | 83 | 21 |
| Full Text Views | 6 | 6 | 3 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 20 | 20 | 8 |