First-ever drone LiDAR scanning in Central Asia's Malguzar Mountains uncovers Tugunbulak, a 120-hectare industrial fortress that forged steel for the Silk Road. Swipe to see →
THE HIGH-ALTITUDE ENIGMA AND THE MYSTERY
To grasp the magnitude of the discovery in the Malguzar Mountains — located in the Zaamin district, roughly 65 kilometers southeast of Jizzakh and northeast of Samarkand.
FORENSIC REVOLUTION IN THE SKY
Mapping an eroded metropolis spanning more than a square kilometer across rugged mountain topography required technology capable of seeing through surface vegetation.
ANATOMY OF TWO CITIES IN THE CLOUDS
The three-dimensional maps published in Nature astonished the global archaeological community with the monumental scale and sophisticated defensive planning of both cities.
THE "CITY OF IRON" OF THE QARAKHANID
What emerged from the stratigraphic layers was not an idle palace complex, but a medieval metallurgical factory preserved in situ.
THE 11TH-CENTURY ECOLOGICAL COLLAPSE AND
Instead, geoarchaeological and paleoenvironmental analyses point to an energy sustainability crisis triggered by the very success of the local iron industry.