Tamga-Shaped Symbols on Ceramics from the Sites of Otrar Oasis of the Pre-Arabic Period

The article considers tamga-shaped symbols from excavations at Pshakshitobe, Besinshitobe and Kuyuk-Mardan settlements in Southern Kazakhstan. Tamga symbols on ceramics are represented by various types. They are distinguished by clearly defined application techniques. A vast majority of symbols are based on absolutely straight lines with generally rounded ends. A comparison of tamga-shaped symbols with pasted ornaments frequently encountered in the material culture of Kanguy tribes in the basin of the Syrdaria allows to consider the former as Kanguy. Perhaps, some of them were subsequently used by the local rulers of Chach and Khwarezm. Counterparts of the symbols in questions have been discovered in materials from Achaemenid Iran, ancient Khwarezm and Sarmatiya of 1st –3rd centuries A.D., and the Middle Syrdaria region of 1st – 8th centuries A.D. Further identification and study of tamgas on the ceramics from Otrar oasis with the involvement of materials from excavations will probably allow to draw more substantiated conclusions with respect to their dating and attribution

Human Settlements on the Northern Shores of Lake Aral and Water Level Changes

Aral Sea, archaeology, Central Asia, climate, holocene, human settlement, lake level oscillations, Kazakhstan,

Climate variability during the past 2,000 years and past economic and irrigation activities in the Aral Sea basin

International audienceThe lake level history, here based on the relative abundance of Ca (gypsum), is used for tracing past hydrological conditions in Central Asia. Lake level was close to a minimum before approximately A.D. 300, at about A.D. 600, A.D. 1220, A.D. 1400 and since 1960s it is lowering again. Lake water level was lowest during the fourteenth or early fifteenth centuries as indicated by a coeval settlement, which today is still under water near the well-dated mausoleum of Kerderi. Pollen data from riparian vegetation indicate generally wet conditions between A.D. 400 and A.D. 900, intermitted by short intervals with drier conditions (AD 550–600; A.D. 650–700) and riverbanks were again dry from A.D. 900–1150, A.D. 1450–1550, and from A.D. 1970 onward moisture decreased steadily. Irrigation activities were at a maximum between 300 B.C. and A.D. 300 (Classical Antiquity) and between A.D. 800 and A.D. 1300 (Medieval Age) and after A.D. 1960

Water supply and ancient society in the Lake Balkhash Basin: Runoff variability along the historical Silk Road

Expansion of agricultural practices from the Fertile Crescent to China during the mid and late Holocene are believed to have shaped the early network of Silk Road routes and possibly regulated the dynamics of trade and exchange in the urban oases along the Silk Road throughout its existence. While the impacts of climate change on the Silk Road are more or less documented for the medieval period, they remain poorly understood for early history of the Silk Road, especially in Central Asia. We analyze hydroclimatic proxies derived from fluvial stratigraphy, geochronology, and tree-ring records that acted on various time scales in the Lake Balkhash Basin to learn how changes in water supply could have influenced the early farmers in the Semirechye region of southern Kazakhstan. Our approach aims to identify short-term and long-term variability of regional runoff and to compare the hydrological data with cultural dynamics coupled with the archaeological settlement pattern and agricultural production. The reconstructed runoff variability underscore the contribution of winter precipitation driven by the interaction between the Arctic oscillation and the Siberian High-Pressure System, to Central Asian river discharge. We show that Saka people of the Iron Age employed extensive ravine agriculture on the alluvial fans of the Tian Shan piedmont, where floodwater farming peaked between 400 BC and 200 BC. The early Silk Road farmers on the alluvial fans favored periods of reduced flood flows, river stability and glacier retreat in the Tian Shan Mountains. Moreover, they were able to apply simple flow control structures to lead water across the fan surface. It is very unlikely that changes in water supply ever significantly constricted agricultural expansion in this region