In the mountainous region of Uzbekistan, drones have uncovered two ancient cities.

Researchers have discovered the remains of two enormous highland cities – Tugunbulak and Tashbulak, which once thrived along the Great Silk Road. Their outlines were mapped using drone-based LiDAR technology.

Tugunbulak and Tashbulak are located in the mountains of eastern Uzbekistan at an altitude of 2000-2200 meters above sea level. This is lower than Lhasa in Tibet (3650 m), but significantly higher than the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu (1355 m), and comparable to the ancient Incan city of Machu Picchu in Peru (2430 m).

As noted by Michael Frachetti, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis, and Farhad Maksudov, an archaeologist from the National Center for Archaeology of Uzbekistan, these cities occupied an economically advantageous position on the Silk Road, which greatly contributed to their growth and prosperity. However, with the decline of overland trade and the shift to maritime routes, many such cities fell into decline and were forgotten, virtually erased by time. Now, archaeologists believe that historians have underestimated the significance of these settlements and are eager to rectify this. By undertaking the task of discovering them, they created a computer model to identify possible routes that trading caravans might have taken through the mountains.

The traces of the cities were found in 2011 and 2015, and later LiDAR technology helped assess their scale at the height of their development. This radar can see through vegetation and the upper soil layer. Only mounds can be seen on the surface, but LiDAR revealed the outlines of buildings, fortifications, and open spaces. At its peak, Tugunbulak covered 120 hectares – a relatively small area by modern standards, but an impressive size for its time. Using data from drones, it was determined that Tugunbulak had preserved 3-meter-high earthen walls that may have framed a fortress. Additionally, rich deposits of iron ore were found near the city, which archaeologists believe the locals could have mined and processed for sale to traders. Tashbulak was about ten times smaller than Tugunbulak, and its layout resembled the flat cities of that era, but without residential areas. Scholars suggest that the local population may have been nomadic and came to the city seasonally, staying in tents or yurts outside its boundaries.

"These cities were significant centers in Central Asia, especially in the transition from flat oases to more complex mountainous conditions. While mountains are often perceived as barriers to trade, they were, in fact, places of major interaction hubs. Animal husbandry and the extraction of valuable resources contributed to their prosperity," – noted Professor Michael Frachetti.

Farhad Maksudov added that these cities had a complex structure and a unique culture distinct from the lowland regions. He also suggested that over a thousand years ago, the inhabitants of Tugunbulak were nomadic herders who preserved their independent culture and economy.
However, to delve deeper into the life in these cities, scholars will need to conduct traditional excavations. Meanwhile, the research team expresses hope that there are other lost Silk Road cities yet to be discovered in the mountains of Uzbekistan.