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dc.contributor.authorMalatesta, Luca Claude
dc.contributor.authorCastelltort, Sébastien
dc.contributor.authorMantellini, Simone
dc.contributor.authorPicotti, Vincenzo
dc.contributor.authorHajdas, Irka
dc.contributor.authorSimpson, Guy
dc.contributor.authorBerdimuradov, Amriddin Ergashevich
dc.contributor.authorTosi, Maurizio
dc.contributor.authorWillett, Sean Douglas
dc.date.accessioned2021-02-11T21:45:29Z
dc.date.available2021-02-11T21:45:29Z
dc.date.issued2012-05-04
dc.identifier.citationMalatesta, L. C., Castelltort, S., Mantellini, S., Picotti, V., Hajdas, I., Simpson, G., ... & Willett, S. D. (2012). Dating the irrigation system of the Samarkand Oasis: A geoarchaeological study. Radiocarbon, 54(1), 91-105.
dc.identifier.issn0033-8222
dc.identifier.doi10.2458/azu_js_rc.v54i1.15839
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10150/654771
dc.description.abstractThe 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 14C 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.
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherDepartment of Geosciences, The University of Arizona
dc.relation.urlhttp://radiocarbon.webhost.uits.arizona.edu/
dc.rightsCopyright © by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona. All rights reserved.
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
dc.subjectsurface processes
dc.subjectarchaeology
dc.subjectsedimentology
dc.subjectirrigation
dc.subjectSamarkand
dc.subjectoasis
dc.subjectflood modeling
dc.titleDating the Irrigation System of the Samarkand Oasis: A Geoarchaeological Study
dc.typeArticle
dc.typetext
dc.identifier.journalRadiocarbon
dc.description.collectioninformationThe Radiocarbon archives are made available by Radiocarbon and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information.
dc.eprint.versionFinal published version
dc.description.admin-noteMigrated from OJS platform February 2021
dc.source.volume54
dc.source.issue1
dc.source.beginpage91
dc.source.endpage105
refterms.dateFOA2021-02-11T21:45:29Z


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