Paleolithic occupation of arid Central Asia in the Middle Pleistocene

Central Asia is positioned at a crossroads linking several zones important to hominin dispersal during the Middle Pleistocene. However, the scarcity of stratified and dated archaeological material and paleoclimate records makes it difficult to understand dispersal and occupation dynamics during this time period, especially in arid zones. Here we compile and analyze paleoclimatic and archaeological data from Pleistocene Central Asia, including examination of a new layer-counted speleothem-based multiproxy record of hydrological changes in southern Uzbekistan at the end of MIS 11. Our findings indicate that Lower Palaeolithic sites in the steppe, semi-arid, and desert zones of Central Asia may have served as key areas for the dispersal of hominins into Eurasia during the Middle Pleistocene. In agreement with previous studies, we find that bifaces occur across these zones at higher latitudes and in lower altitudes relative to the other Paleolithic assemblages. We argue that arid Central Asia would have been intermittently habitable during the Middle Pleistocene when long warm interglacial phases coincided with periods when the Caspian Sea was experiencing consistently high water levels, resulting in greater moisture availability and more temperate conditions in otherwise arid regions. During periodic intervals in the Middle Pleistocene, the local environment of arid Central Asia was likely a favorable habitat for paleolithic hominins and was frequented by Lower Paleolithic toolmakers producing bifaces

The landscape of ancient mobile pastoralism in the highlands of southeastern Uzbekistan, 2000 BC-AD 1400

WOS: 000346149000001Here we present the results of archaeological survey and excavations carried out in southeastern Uzbekistan during the summer of 2011. The sites are among the first systematically recovered pastoralist settlements in the mountains of Uzbekistan. Our data include material culture and chronology that document mobile pastoralist communities in the mountains of southern Central Asia at least as early as the middle of the 2nd millennium B.C. Based on AMS/C-14 chronology, detailed site stratigraphies, and evident reuse of numerous settlement sites within our dataset, we discuss the long-term land use and ecology of pastoralists in this region and argue that a well-developed local tradition of pastoralism was already in place during the early 2nd millennium B.C. and endured until the early 20th century. Our findings reveal striking similarities with nomadic camps found elsewhere in the mountains of Inner Asia and illustrate the local durability of pastoralist landscapes during prehistoric and historical periods

Arboreal crops on the medieval Silk Road: Archaeobotanical studies at Tashbulak.

During the first millennium A.D., Central Asia was marked by broad networks of exchange and interaction, what many historians collectively refer to as the "Silk Road". Much of this contact relied on high-elevation mountain valleys, often linking towns and caravanserais through alpine territories. This cultural exchange is thought to have reached a peak in the late first millennium A.D., and these exchange networks fostered the spread of domesticated plants and animals across Eurasia. However, few systematic studies have investigated the cultivated plants that spread along the trans-Eurasian exchange during this time. New archaeobotanical data from the archaeological site of Tashbulak (800-1100 A.D.) in the mountains of Uzbekistan is shedding some light on what crops were being grown and consumed in Central Asia during the medieval period. The archaeobotanical assemblage contains grains and legumes, as well as a wide variety of fruits and nuts, which were likely cultivated at lower elevations and transported to the site. In addition, a number of arboreal fruits may have been collected from the wild or represent cultivated version of species that once grew in the wild shrubby forests of the foothills of southern Central Asia in prehistory. This study examines the spread of crops, notably arboreal crops, across Eurasia and ties together several data sets in order to add to discussions of what plant cultivation looked like in the central region of the Silk Road

Correction: Arboreal crops on the medieval Silk Road: Archaeobotanical studies at Tashbulak.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0201409.]

Agropastoral practices and water stress in Central Asia: first insights given by the lake sediment sequence of Kanbeshbulak (Hissar mountains, Uzbekistan)

International audienceThis contribution aims to analyse what were the adaptation strategies of agropastoral systems vis à-vis water stress over the last millennium in Central Asia. Based on paleoenvironmental analyses carried out on the sediment infilling of Lake Kanbeshbulak (southern part of the Hissar mountain range, Uzbekistan), we will reconstruct the long-term variability of soil erosion (sedimentology and, elemental geochemistry) in relation to indicators on the nature and relative intensity of the agropastoral practices (palynology carried out on the same cores). Those results will be put into a Human perspective through comparisons with historical sources. In particular, we will propose a special focus on the Medieval Islamic Period to discuss the hypotheses that regional climate changes, by modifying water resource availability locally, might have impacted crops and pastoral livestock productions, triggering economic losses and social contestations unevenly addressed by the succeeding political powers

Agropastoral practices and water stress in Central Asia: first insights given by the lake sediment sequence of Kanbeshbulak (Hissar mountains, Uzbekistan)

This contribution aims to analyse what were the adaptation strategies of agropastoral systems vis à-vis water stress over the last millennium in Central Asia. Based on paleoenvironmental analyses carried out on the sediment infilling of Lake Kanbeshbulak (southern part of the Hissar mountain range, Uzbekistan), we will reconstruct the long-term variability of soil erosion (sedimentology and, elemental geochemistry) in relation to indicators on the nature and relative intensity of the agropastoral practices (palynology carried out on the same cores). Those results will be put into a Human perspective through comparisons with historical sources. In particular, we will propose a special focus on the Medieval Islamic Period to discuss the hypotheses that regional climate changes, by modifying water resource availability locally, might have impacted crops and pastoral livestock productions, triggering economic losses and social contestations unevenly addressed by the succeeding political powers

Archaeological and molecular evidence for ancient chickens in Central Asia

Abstract The origins and dispersal of the chicken across the ancient world remains one of the most enigmatic questions regarding Eurasian domesticated animals. The lack of agreement concerning timing and centers of origin is due to issues with morphological identifications, a lack of direct dating, and poor preservation of thin, brittle bird bones. Here we show that chickens were widely raised across southern Central Asia from the fourth century BC through medieval periods, likely dispersing along the ancient Silk Road. We present archaeological and molecular evidence for the raising of chickens for egg production, based on material from 12 different archaeological sites spanning a millennium and a half. These eggshells were recovered in high abundance at all of these sites, suggesting that chickens may have been an important part of the overall diet and that chickens may have lost seasonal egg-layin