Search Results (4)

In this paper, we use preliminary archaeological data spanning the Iron Age through Medieval periods (ca. 800 BCE to 1200 CE) in the Juuku Valley in Kyrgyzstan on the south side of Lake Issyk-Kul to model land use across vertical mountain zones. We have (1) established a radiometric chronology; (2) conducted test excavations of an Iron Age settlement at 2100 m asl and a Turkic period burial at 1934 m asl; (3) undertaken preliminary archaeobotanical research; and (4) performed pedestrian surveys. Archaeobotanical remains of wheat (Triticum aestivum), barley (Hordeum vulgare), broomcorn millet (Panicum milaceum), foxtail millet (Setaria italica), and legumes were recovered in very small quantities from both sites. We compare these preliminary archaeobotanical results with previously published data from Talgar Iron Age settlements on the north side of the Tian Shan Mountain range in Kazakhstan. A small assemblage of faunal remains found at the Turkic period kurgan and from a profile at the upland Iron Age settlement demonstrates the practice of herding sheep/goats, cattle, and horses in the Juuku Valley. The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that pastoral transhumance and agropastoralism were interchangeable economic strategies used by peoples in the Iron Age through Medieval periods in mountain-river valleys between 600 m to 2100 m asl. These economic strategies combined the pasturing of sheep, goats, cattle, and horses with the cultivation of cereals in a system that was adapted to different vegetational zones along a vertical gradient. This paper is based on preliminary research using survey data and test excavations and initiates a long-term research study of four millennia of settlements that appear to have ranged from pastoral transhumance and combined mountain agriculture. Full article

Two Iron Age settlements, Tuzusai and Taldy Bulak 2 (ca. 500 BC to 1 CE), located in southeastern Kazakhstan on the Talgar alluvial fan north of the Tian Shan range, have yielded a small collection of bone, antler/horn, bronze, and stone artifacts with an affinity to the nomadic art of the first millennium BC. Both settlements date within the period of late Saka culture. Two pieces have decorative ornamentations with zoomorphic imagery: a small carved fragment with carved images of a wing and an ear and a perforated bone disk with the carving of three birds’ heads. The other artifacts include objects associated with Saka weaponry or nomadic economy, such as two horn psalias (cheek pieces) and a bronze amulet. A carnelian bead will also be described as an imported object. These special finds were found on the occupation floors of mud brick houses and in the pit houses of settlements, not in grave or burial contexts. The objects were placed in a stratigraphic sequence in the settlement sites. The method for placing these objects within the chronological framework of “animal-style art” is through comparisons with similar objects found throughout Eurasia—a method used in Soviet and post-Soviet archaeology. The results show that the functional and stylistic elements of the six objects indicate that the Talgar settlements were part of a larger world-system of trade and communication along the early Silk Route(s). Full article

Throughout the world, the entanglement of humans and landscapes varies from area to area depending on the time scale. In southern Africa, the impact of humanity on the physical environment is largely discussed in the context of modern rural and urban societies, and, usually, most contributions come from human geography, agriculture, and earth sciences. Very limited research is usually extended into the deep past, yet the archaeological record is replete with valuable information that gives a long-time depth of past human land use practices. Consequently, the contribution of the physical environment to the development of complexity over time remains poorly understood in most parts of Iron Age (CE 200–1900) southern Zambezia, particularly in Mberengwa and other gold-belt territories that have often received cursory research attention. What remains obscured is how did inhabitants of these gold-belt territories transform their landscapes in the long and short-term and how did these transformations intersect with their everyday lives? In this study, we combined archaeological, historical, and anthropological data of the Zimbabwe tradition societies that lived in ancient Mberengwa to probe these issues. The preliminary outcome suggests that despite vulnerability to high temperatures, tsetse-flies, and low rainfall, Later Iron Age societies that inhabited this gold belt territory were innovative risk-takers who successfully adapted a mix of land use practices to achieve longevity in settlement and prosperity in agropastoralism, mining, crafting, and much more. This proffers useful lessons on sustainable land use. Hopefully, with modification to suit the present, such solutions may help policy makers and modern societies living in similar environments to combat current global challenges related to environmental change. Full article

The main goal of this paper is to present results of preliminary archaeological research on the south side of Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan. We test the hypothesis that agropastoral land use changed over four millennia from the Bronze Age through the Kirghiz period due to economic, socio-political, and religious shifts in the prehistoric and historic societies of this region. Our research objectives are to: (1) describe and analyze survey results from the Lower Kizil Suu Valley; (2) discuss the results of radiometric and archaeobotanical samples taken from three stratigraphic profiles at three settlements from the Juuku Valley, including the chronological periods of the Wusun (140 to 437 CE), the Qarakhanid (942 to 1228 CE), and the historic Kirghiz (1700 to present CE); and (3) conduct preliminary GIS spatial analyses on the Iron Age mortuary remains (Saka and Wusun periods). This research emerges out of the first archaeological surveys conducted in 2019–2021 and includes the Lower Kizil Suu alluvial fan; it is an initial step toward developing a model for agropastoral land use for upland valleys of the Inner Tian Shan Mountains. Full article