Tag Archive for 'Central Asia'

The Soii Havzak rockshelter is one of the very few multilayered stratified Paleolithic sites in Central Asia. Image credit: Yossi Zaidner & Sharof Kurbanov, doi: 10.15184/aqy.2024.149.

Paleolithic Rockshelter Discovered in Tajikistan: Soii Havzak

Nov 5, 2024 by News Staff

The Soii Havzak rockshelter in the Zeravshan Valley in Tajikistan contains several phases of Paleolithic occupation rich in stone tools, faunal and charcoal...

A drone captured this image of Tugunbulak in 2018. Image credit: M. Frachetti.

Two Ancient Silk Road Cities Discovered in Uzbekistan

Oct 30, 2024 by News Staff

Named Tashbulak and Tugunbulak, these two medieval cities are among the largest ever documented in the mountainous parts of the Silk Road, the vast network...

Life reconstruction of Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus. Image credit: Joschua Knüppe.

New Carnivorous Dinosaur Species Unearthed in Kyrgyzstan

Aug 22, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of large theropod dinosaur being named Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus has been discovered in the Middle Jurassic Balabansai Formation in...

A compilation of evidence for ancient chickens in Central Asia: SEM images of a Bash Tepa egg shell, emphasizing morphologically distinct breathing pores at magnifications x30 (a), x150 (b), x750 (e, f); (c) a ceramic egg with clay balls from Bukhara dating between the tenth and twelfth centuries CE; (d) the Sophytes coin from Bactria in 300 BCE; (g) a fragment of an ossuary from Bash Tepa dating to the last centuries BCE, with an apparent chicken on the top; (h) a selection of eggshells from the Bukhara site, showing color (essentially all white) and burning, which was evident on many of the shells. Image credit: Peters et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-46093-2.

Study: Chickens Were Widely Raised across Southern Central Asia as Early as 400 BCE

Apr 2, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

The origins and dispersal of the chicken (Gallus gallus) across the ancient world is one of the most enigmatic questions regarding Eurasian domesticated...

Dong et al. elucidate grapevine evolution and domestication histories with 3,525 cultivated and wild accessions worldwide: in the Pleistocene, harsh climate drove the separation of wild grape ecotypes caused by continuous habitat fragmentation; then, domestication occurred concurrently about 11,000 years ago in Western Asia and the Caucasus to yield table and wine grapevines; the Western Asia domesticates dispersed into Europe with early farmers, introgressed with ancient wild western ecotypes, and subsequently diversified along human migration trails into muscat and unique western wine grape ancestries by the Late Neolithic. Image credit: Dong et al., doi: 10.1126/science.add8655.

New Study Sheds Light on Origins and Domestication of Grapevines

Mar 22, 2023 by News Staff

Humans have extensively shaped animals and plants through domestication. Although wine and table grapes have been important culturally for thousands of...

The Fergana stone loach (Triplophysa ferganaensis), female, 8.75 cm standard length, Yordon village, Fergana Region, Uzbekistan. Image credit: Sheraliev & Peng, doi: 10.1111/jfb.14764.

New Species of Freshwater Fish Discovered: Fergana Stone Loach

May 11, 2021 by Sergio Prostak

A team of ichthyologists from China’s Southwest University has discovered a new species of the loach genus Triplophysa living in a high-altitude stream...

Life reconstruction of Dzharatitanis kingi. Image credit: Alexander Averianov.

New Sauropod Dinosaur Discovered in Uzbekistan

Mar 2, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have identified a new genus and species of rebbachisaurid dinosaur from a fossil uncovered in Uzbekistan. Life reconstruction of Dzharatitanis...

Toonen et al. challenge the long-held view that the fall of Central Asia’s river civilizations was determined by warfare and the destruction of irrigation infrastructure during the Mongol invasion. Image credit: National Library, Berlin.

Climate Change, Not Mongol Invasion, Destroyed Central Asia’s River Civilizations

Dec 17, 2020 by News Staff

The Aral Sea basin in Central Asia and its major rivers, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, were the center of advanced river civilizations, and a principal...

Botanical remains from the Khalchayan site, Uzbekistan: (1-2) Oryza sativa; (3) Hordeum vulgare; (4) Triticum aestvum; (5) Pisum sativum; (6) Lens culinaris; (7-8) Linum usitatissimum; (9) Lithospermum arvense; (10-12) Setaria italica; (13-15) Chenopodium sp.; (16-18) Polygonum sp.; (19-20) Galium aparine; (21-22) Alhagi sparsifolia. Image credit: Chen et al, doi: 10.1007/s11430-019-9585-2.

Archaeologists Find 1,750-Year-Old Cultivated Rice Grains in Uzbekistan

May 25, 2020 by Sergio Prostak

A team of archeologists from China, Uzbekistan, and Germany has found evidence that japonica-like rice was an important food in Central Asia as early as...

Scientists analyzed DNA from ancient dog remains from more than a dozen sites in North and South America. This illustration shows a Canadian Eskimo Dog by John James Audubon and John Bachman (1845-1848).

DNA Study Suggests First Dogs Were Domesticated in Central Asia

Oct 20, 2015 by News Staff

The first dogs were domesticated about 15,000 years ago in Central Asia, perhaps near present-day Nepal and Mongolia, suggests a genetic study published...