A lost city of Silk Road may have emerged on the uplands of Uzbekistan

The ruins of a mediaeval lost city have emerged on the uplands of Uzbekistan, which researchers believe may be identical with the mediaeval iron-smelting town known in historical sources as Marsmanda, once possibly one of the most important industrial centres along the Silk Road.

During recent archaeological excavations on the Uzbek uplands, researchers uncovered traces of a long-lost city that can be identified with the mediaeval iron-working town of Marsmanda. The settlement, inhabited between the 6th and 11th centuries, is believed to have played a key role in the commercial network of the Silk Road, reports Smithsonian Magazine.

Four sectors uncovered

The remains of the settlement lie some 2,000 metres above sea level. During the excavations, archaeologists surveyed an area of roughly 300 hectares, which they subsequently divided into four clearly distinguishable sectors.

Of particular note is a 52-hectare area containing three fortified buildings linked by a terrace. Taken together, the architectural remains suggest that the town may have been continuously inhabited for as long as 500 years.

• The Indus Valley civilisation’s mysterious collapse may have been driven by climate change

Iron-working gave the lost city its importance

The central buildings of the settlement were constructed from rammed earth, with walls more than a metre thick, and in several places they contained large furnaces and slag left from metallurgical processes. Radiocarbon analysis dates the earliest layers to the 6th century, with later alterations made during the 7th–8th centuries.

Based on the iron- and steel-processing facilities discovered, it is highly likely that the town functioned as a major industrial centre. Weapons, agricultural implements and horse tack were manufactured from iron, all of which were of great significance to the empires of the Central Asian steppe, including the Scythians, Huns and Mongols.