Iron Age society and chronology in South-east Kazakhstan

Abstract

This new view of Iron Age society in Kazakhstan breaks away from the old documentary and ethnic framework and offers an independent archaeological chronology. Excavated house types and new environmental data show that nomadism and cultivation were practised side by side. Scholars had previously tended to emphasise the ability of documented Saka leaders to plunder and collect tribute from sedentary agriculture groups through military aggression. But what really gave them a political and economic edge over other steppe groups was a dual economy based upon farming and herding.

Agricultural production in the Central Asian mountains: Tuzusai, Kazakhstan (410–150b.c.)

“…Chang and colleagues (2003) established a detailed chronology for Tuzusai and Tseganka 8. These two sites show continuous occupation throughout the Iron Age and successive abandonment episodes afterward (Chang et al 2003). The chronology is based on 15 AMS dates from stratigraphic levels at the two sites, nine of which are from Tuzusai.…”

“…The chronology is based on 15 AMS dates from stratigraphic levels at the two sites, nine of which are from Tuzusai. Ten new AMS dates ( (Chang et al 2003). This earliest dated grain comes from the base of Pit house 7.…”

“…Agricultural risk due to irregular rainfall is mitigated through the use of artificial watering systems, which involves rechanneling of mountain streams (Utesheva 1959). Excavations at Tuzusai, Taldy Bulak 2, and Tseganka 8, all located on the Talgar alluvial fan, were conducted by Chang and colleagues (2002) as part of the Kazakh-American Talgar Archaeological Project (Chang et al 2003;Rosen et al 2000). These settlements were occupied during the Iron Age by people in the Saka (800-200 B.C.…”

“…In addition, horses, donkeys, camels, and dogs were present in small percentages, indicating that inhabitants of the region maintained a variety of domesticated animals. The presence of wild species, albeit in low frequencies, suggests that hunting was practiced and included roe and red deer, wild pigs, and foxes (Chang et al 2003).…”

Irrigation in the Khorezm oasis, past and present: a political ecology perspective

“…The qalas were in some cases used as protective cattle corrals (Tolstov 1948:80), and generally exhibit a nomadic functionality that closely resembles the mobile pastoralist sites of Inner Eurasia's eastern steppe (Negus Cleary 2008Honeychurch and Amartuvshin 2007;Rogers et al 2005). Production practices at these sites included animal husbandry (Tsalkin 1952(Tsalkin , 1966 and the cultivation of drought-tolerant crops (Brite and Marston 2013), whose low labor demands were elsewhere compatible with rangeland grazing (Chang et al 2003;Motuzaite Motuzeviciute et al 2015;Spengler et al 2014:154-5). Other aspects of ancient Khorezmian agriculture, for example the cultivation of vineyards, melon patches, and fruit trees, similarly may suggest an emphasis on cropping strategies that made use of low intensity desert water harvesting techniques and would have allowed time for other production activities (Fleskens et al 2007).…”