In partnership with the National Center of Archaeology (Uzbekistan) and the Tang Center for Silk Road Studies, the SAIE Lab is using advanced techniques for geophysical survey and excavation to document the remains of an ancient medieval city at Tugunbulak, Uzbekistan. This can provide many new insights into our understanding of medieval mountain communities and their engagement in trade, production, and urban development along the ancient Silk Routes of Central Asia.
Read MoreOur interdisciplinary project aims to understand societal strategies to adapt to systemic shocks across APAC. Central to this project are three questions: 1) What are the key variables that influence societal resilience in the face of different types, durations, and combination of shocks across diverse ecological and societal contexts? 2) What is the frequency of stand-alone, sequential, or concurrent shocks in APAC and how does the periodicity of experienced shocks shape societal resilience? 3) What are the implications of analysing societal resilience at different spatio-temporal scales and units of analysis?
Read MoreWith past support from the National Geographic Society, the SAIE Lab used high-tech analysis tools for groundbreaking research on an ancient city high in the mountains of Uzbekistan. Site-wide geophysical survey revealed the dense architectural structure of the town center, which spans roughly 7ha at its core. Urban features such as a central mound (citadel), a large industrial workshop area, and a cemetery with over 350 individual burials all frame Tashbulak within a broader syntax of medieval urbanism and early Islamic conversion in the region. Tashbulak is currently one of the only known high mountain town centers constructed and occupied during the time of the Qarakhanid Empire.
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