Adaptive Dynamics of Settlement Models in the Urban Landscape of Termez (Uzbekistan) from c. 300 BCE to c. 1400 CE

Ariño, Enrique ; Uribe, Paula (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Angás, Jorge ; Piqué, Raquel ; Portero, Rodrigo ; Martínez-Ferreras, Verónica ; Gurt, Josep M.

Resumen: The archaeological site of Ancient Termez is located in southern Uzbekistan. Despite the arid environment, the city benefited from its strategic position near two rivers, the Amu Darya and the Surkhan Darya. Its significance was mainly related to the expansion of trade routes connecting Eurasia. The city comprises several enclosures that attest long-term human-environment interactions. In order to identify the adaptive dynamics of the settlement models during an extended chronology covering the period from c. 300 BCE to c. 1220 CE (Greco-Bactrian/Yuezhi, Kushan, Kushano-Sasanian, and Islamic periods), a multidisciplinary study has been carried out, which includes: (1) archaeological excavations in several areas of the urban complex; (2) pedestrian surveying inside some enclosures and in the urban periphery; (3) an aerial survey based on high-resolution satellite imagery; (4) AMS dating of charcoal and bone samples; (5) archaeobotanical investigation through anthracological analysis; (6) zooarchaeological studies. The results point to variations in the development of the inhabited spaces, in which abandonment and occupation took place. The zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical data demonstrate the exploitation of natural resources in different environments (i.e., arid areas and irrigated land) and a certain evolution during the period considered.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.3390/land12081550

Año: 2023

Publicado en: Land 12, 8 (2023), 1550 [30 pp.]
ISSN: 2073-445X

Factor impacto JCR: 3.2 (2023)

Categ. JCR: ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES rank: 68 / 182 = 0.374 (2023) - Q2 - T2

Factor impacto CITESCORE: 4.9 - Nature and Landscape Conservation (Q1) - Ecology (Q1) - Global and Planetary Change (Q2)

Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 0.73 - Ecology (Q1) - Nature and Landscape Conservation (Q1) - Global and Planetary Change (Q3)

Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/AEI/PID2020-114096GA-C22
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/AEI/PID2020-114096GB-C21

Tipo y forma: Article (Published version)

Área (Departamento): Área Arqueología (Dpto. Ciencias de la Antigüed.)