Dating the Irrigation System of the Samarkand Oasis: A Geoarchaeological Study

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The oasis of Samarkand in the Middle Zeravshan Valley (modern Uzbekistan) was a major political and economic center in ancient western Central Asia. The chronology of its irrigation system was, until now, only constrained by the quality and quantity of archaeological findings and several different hypotheses have been proposed for it. We use a new approach combining archaeological surveying, radiocarbon dating, sedimentary analysis, and the numerical modeling of a flood event to offer new evidence for, and quantitative dating of, the development of irrigation system on the southern flank of the Middle Zeravshan Valley. We analyzed 13 bones and charcoals from 3 archaeological sites and obtained new 14 C ages from Afrasiab (ancient Samarkand), a dwelling damaged by flooding in the 2nd century AD (site code: SAM-174) and the fortress of Kafir Kala. We established the origin of sedimentary deposits at the sites to infer the presence of the 2 most important canals of the southern flank: the Dargom and the Yanghiaryk. Finally, we show with a numerical model of overland flow that a natural flood was unlikely to have produced the damage observed at SAM-174. The combined results of the study indicate that the canals south of Samarkand existed, and were mainly developed, in the 2nd century AD and were not connected to the main feeding canal of Afrasiab at that time.

Dry and Humid Periods Reconstructed from Tree Rings in the Former Territory of Sogdiana (Central Asia) and Their Socio-economic Consequences over the Last Millennium

“…In 1371, Timur established the city as his capital and renewed the irrigation system in the Zeravshan River valley, which was used extensively for agriculture (Manz 1989). Traces of a high water level and flooding in this period, indicating a moister climate, were found in sediment from canals carrying water from the Zeravshan River to the oases of Samarkand (Malatesta et al 2012). The next arid interval, recorded ca 1500-1600, was marked again by violent political changes in the former Sogdiana (Fig.…”

“…Sixteenth-century aridification was confirmed by an increase in salinity and changes of lake levels of the Aral Sea (Sorrel et al 2006;Boomer et al 2009;Boroffka et al 2006). The rapid increase in humidity in the second part of the seventeenth century was marked by flood sediments in the irrigation canals in the Samarkand oasis (Malatesta et al 2012). During the period 1750-1850, a return to arid conditions was documented.…”

“…This period of prosperity was experienced not only in this area but along the entire Silk Road as well. Public buildings and mosques were enlarged and the water supply ensured by means of ancient aqueducts, conduits, and irrigation canals (Ivanitskij and Inevatkina 1999;Malatesta et al 2012). Samarkand's oases, with their famous peach gardens, experienced a golden age at the end of the Tang Dynasty (Schafer 1963).…”

Climate Change and the Rise of the Central Asian Silk Roads

“…The major cities of Samarkand and Bukhara were founded in this period, while some of the other classical Silk Road cities were founded in the final centuries BCE. A drying climate may have forced the founding of cities and initiation of large scale irrigation (Malatesta et al 2012), however, the increased hydrological resources may have ultimately allowed these cities to flourish and provide the backbone of the Silk Road trade routes.…”

“…Central Asia has been continuously inhabited for thousands of years and was home to thriving late Bronze Age cultures, including the Oxus Civilization (Lamberg-Karlovsky 2013) and Sapalli culture (Kaniuth 2007). The city of Samarkand was founded around 600 BCE (Grenet 2002) and this may be associated with drying of central Asia and the initiation of irrigation of the Samarkand Oasis (Malatesta et al 2012). Although there is evidence for settlement in the region of Bokhara from 3000 BCE, the city itself was founded around 500 BCE as part of the Achaemenid Empire or first Persian Empire (Lo Muzio 2009).…”