In the Footsteps of the Silk Road: Czech-Kyrgyz Geo-environmental Project
Authors:   Institute of Geology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Rozvojová 269, 165 00, Prague 6, Czech Republic, Lisá Lenka , Vařeka Pavel ,   Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, University of West Bohemia, Sedláčkova 15, 301 00, Pilsen, Czech Republic, Tashbayeva Kadicha Iskenderovna ,   Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnology named after B. Dzamgyrchinov, National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic, Prospect Cuj, 265a, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Vatansever Atilla ,   Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, University of West Bohemia, Sedláčkova 15, 301 00, Pilsen, Czech Republic, Petr Libor ,   Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37, Brno, Czech Republic, Kočár Petr ,   Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, University of West Bohemia, Sedláčkova 15, 301 00, Pilsen, Czech Republic,   Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Letenská 4, 118 01 Prague, Czech Republic, Chajbullin Koštial Jozef ,   Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, University of West Bohemia, Sedláčkova 15, 301 00, Pilsen, Czech Republic, Sůvová Zdeňka ,   Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, University of West Bohemia, Sedláčkova 15, 301 00, Pilsen, Czech Republic, Weinerová Hedvika ,   Institute of Geology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Rozvojová 269, 165 00, Prague 6, Czech Republic, Světlík Ivo ,   Nuclear Physics Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences, Na Truhlářce 39/64, 180 86, Prague, Czech Republic, Pachnerová Brabcová Kateřina ,   Nuclear Physics Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences, Na Truhlářce 39/64, 180 86, Prague, Czech Republic, Moska Piotr ,   Institute of Physics, Centre for Science and Education, Silesian University of Technology, Konarskiego 22B, 44-100, Gliwice, Poland, Lisý Pavel ,   Institute of Geology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Rozvojová 269, 165 00, Prague 6, Czech Republic, Juřičková Lucie ,   Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Viničná 1594, 128 00, Prague, Czech Republic, Grabka Dawid ,   Department of Anthropology, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Kozuchowska 5, 51-631, Wroclaw, Poland, Kuraszewicz Kamila ,   Department of Anthropology, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Kozuchowska 5, 51-631, Wroclaw, Poland, Bajer Aleš ,   Department of Geology and Soil Science, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel university in Brno, Zemědělská 3, 613 00, Brno, Czech Republic, Osmonova Samara ,   Faculty of History and Social Work, Osh State University, Lenin Prospect 331, 723 500, Osh, Kyrgyzstan, Sultanov Emil ,   Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnology named after B. Dzamgyrchinov, National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic, Prospect Cuj, 265a, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Published: February 2024

Kyrgyzstan can be represented, geomorphologically-speaking, by a transect between the Fergana lowlands and the Tien Shan highlands and is an outstanding area for the study of paleoclimatic conditions relating to climatic changes. These changes have been crucial for the behaviour of past cultures in this area, especially due to the presence of the Silk Road. A Czech environmental team, covering geology, geomorphology, pedology, paleoecology, archaeobotany, malacology, osteology and many other disciplines, has been following up previous survey fieldwork undertaken in this area. Since 2021, the expeditions in the south-eastern Kyrgyzstan (Osh Region) have been aiming at the structure and settlement pattern development in the contact zone between the fertile Fergana basin and the steppe environment at the foothills of the Pamir-Alai and Tian-Shan Mountains, from prehistory until the present, including the material testimony of life on the ancient and medieval Silk Road. This work is a part of an agreement between the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, the Osh State University and the Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnology named after B. Dzamgyrchinov of the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic. One of the major challenges of the ongoing geoarchaeological and palaeoecological research is to link climate changes and changes forced by human action with the transformation of settlement and landscape patterns.