Archaeologists have uncovered a sprawling Bronze Age settlement on the steppe of Kazakhstan that was likely a major early city in its heyday about 3,600 years ago, a new study reports.
The early city of Semiyarka spanned 346 acres (140 hectares) — more than four times larger than contemporaneous villages in the region. The site, which dates to 1600 B.C., is the first site in the region discovered to have significant space dedicated to metallurgy and tin-bronze production, according to the study, published Tuesday (Nov. 18) in the journal Antiquity.
"Semiyarka transforms our understanding of steppe societies," study first author Miljana Radivojević, an archaeologist at University College London, said in a statement. "It demonstrates that mobile communities were capable of building and sustaining permanent, well-organized settlements centered on large-scale metallurgical production."
The site sits atop a bluff above the Irtysh River in northeastern Kazakhstan, looking out over a network of valleys. Its prominence prompted scientists to nickname it the "City of Seven Ravines," and its position suggests the city may have controlled movement along the river, the researchers wrote in the study.
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