Early Medieval Urbanism, Economy, and Political Identity in Highland Central Asia

Synopsis

'Early Medieval Urbanism, Economy, and Political Identity in Highland Central Asia' focuses on recent discoveries in Uzbekistan’s highlands, where ancient urban centers like Tugunbulak and Tashbulak reveal unexpected complexities in medieval political and economic life. From the 6th to the 11th century CE, these high-altitude hubs emerged as significant players within broader networks that spanned from East Asia to the Middle East. Professor Frachetti will highlight the environmental and political factors that allowed these regions to thrive as centers of production, trade, and power. This research was recently published in Nature and featured in New York Times.

This will be a hybrid event. Participants only able to attend online should use this link to register for the event.

About the Speaker

Archaeologist, photographer, and author Michael Frachetti researches Asia’s ancient Silk Roads to understand Central Asian societies and their unique role in shaping ancient and modern civilization. For close to 30 years, he has led archaeological expeditions across Central Asia. Through his fieldwork and geospatial modeling he and his team have unearthed a spectacular high-altitude city built by elusive nomadic empires who controlled the Silk Road more than a thousand years ago. He uses high-resolution satellite imagery, 3-D modeling, and computer simulations to help predict, discover, and document the ancient archaeology of Central Asia, while studying the relationship between societies and their impact on extreme environments (deserts, high mountains, etc).

Michael is currently a Professor of Archaeology at Washington University in St. Louis and the author of "Pastoralist Landscapes and Social Interaction in Bronze Age Eurasia" (Univ. Calif. Press). His research has been featured in the New York Times, Nature, Science, BBC, Scientific American, and more. Every summer he directs ongoing archaeological excavations in both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.