Living the ancient high life

A recent and surprising discovery has been uncovered in the high altitudes of Uzbekistan’s southeastern mountains.

The region was long thought to have been uninhabited because of the problems with living at such altitudes but this discovery, made using lidar, the remote sending technology that uses reflected light to map out surroundings in three dimensions, has revealed that people were living in the mountains in medieval times. Not only were these people living in sophisticated cities but they were also trading on the Silk Route, possibly with metal, the smelting of which harnessed the natural winds that occur in the area.

This discovery – two cities have been revealed – rewrites knowledge about the Silk Roads and sheds a new light on the culture and knowledge systems of the area a thousand years ago.