Bronze Age mega-settlement in Kazakhstan has advanced urban planning, metallurgy
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- #Bronze Age
- #Kazakhstan
- #Archaeology
- Archaeologists discovered a large Bronze Age settlement in northeastern Kazakhstan called Semiyarka, dating back to around 1600 BCE.
- The 140-hectare site challenges previous assumptions about steppe settlements, revealing a planned urban landscape with earthworks, domestic compounds, and a central structure.
- Evidence of large-scale tin-bronze production was found, indicating an industrial zone for metal processing, suggesting Semiyarka was a key node in Eurasian trade networks.
- The settlement's strategic location above the Irtysh River allowed control over trade routes and access to natural resources, enhancing its defensive and economic advantages.
- International collaboration using advanced techniques like geophysics revealed Semiyarka as a stable, long-term center of production and community life.
- Semiyarka exemplifies urbanism in the steppe, showing Bronze Age societies in Central Asia could sustain complex settlements with extensive economic ties.