News Archaeology

Silk Road cities reached surprising heights in Central Asia’s mountains

Mountainous Central Asia may have been “an urban zone” during medieval times

An aerial view of a mountainous region in Central Asiua shows what looks like a mountaintop partly covered by trees and partly open field. Researchers have found traces of a medieval city there.

Lidar imaging enabled researchers to identify traces of a high-altitude medieval city built by mobile herders along Silk Road routes in Central Asia. An aerial view of one part of that city, now obscured by grass and ground cover, is shown here.

M. Frachetti

By Bruce Bower

Two high-altitude, medieval cities built by mobile herders along Silk Road trade routes in Central Asia have been hiding in plain sight — until now.