Lost for centuries, Silk Road cities are revealed by drone technology
Archeologists have uncovered stunning details of two long-lost medieval cities that once thrived along the ancient Silk Road in Central Asia.
Traversed centuries ago by camel-back traders, two long-lost medieval cities that once thrived along the ancient Silk Road have been uncovered by drones sent searching for their secrets.
For centuries, these abandoned cities lay hidden beneath the mountains of Central Asia. But new research, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, reveals two fortified settlements that were once perched along a key crossroad of silk trade routes.
This groundbreaking research in southeastern Uzbekistan could shift our understanding of the Silk Road, a vast network of trade routes that spanned from China to the Mediterranean.
On conventional maps, trade routes spanning the Eurasian continent were assumed to avoid the mountains of Central Asia. But the new research shows the Silk Road network was larger than previously predicted.
Using modern drone mapping technology known as LiDAR — light detection and ranging equipment — the team of archaeologists found that the two cities, Tashbulak and Tugunbulak, were once bustling urban centers despite their isolation and elevation.
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