Archaeologists in southern Uzbekistan have uncovered a 3,000-year-old city, shedding light on early urban life in Central Asia.
The site, Bandikhan II, lies in the Surxondaryo Region. First recorded in the 1960s, it was not excavated in detail until 2023, when a joint team from Northwest University, Termez State University and the Termez Archaeological Museum began work. Research has focused on the eastern sector, where the earliest layers are exposed.
Dating from the 10th to the 8th century BC, the settlement belongs to the early Iron Age and is among the largest known in the Bandikhan oasis.
"The site is a well-preserved and structurally intact urban centre from the ancient Bactrian kingdom, dating to the period after the decline of the region's Bronze Age culture and before the expansion of the Persian Achaemenid Empire," said Zhu Jiangsong from Northwest University.
A section of the eastern defensive wall shows how it was built. Broad at the base and still over two metres high in places, it was constructed without a foundation trench. The ground was levelled, a thin soil layer added, and the wall raised using compacted earth. A narrow storage space was built into the structure.
Inside, five connected rooms aligned northwest to southeast point to domestic use. One room contained a raised platform, likely for sleeping, beside a soot-stained wall niche used for a lamp.
Finds include pottery, stone tools and a small number of bronze objects. The pottery matches other sites linked to the Yaz cultural tradition. Grinding tools indicate grain processing, while knives and arrowheads suggest everyday activity. Seashells point to wider contacts.
Radiocarbon dating confirms the timeline. Only about 300 of the site’s estimated 10,000 square metres have been excavated so far, but the results already outline how the settlement was built and used. Further work is planned.
Header Image Credit : China's Northwest University
Sources : HaberGo