Bronze Age 'Lost City' Unearthed by Archaeologists

An international team of archaeologists has unearthed what officials are calling one of the most significant Bronze Age discoveries in decades, according to a study published in the journal Antiquity.

Archaeologists Unearth Massive 'Lost City'

In northeastern Kazakhstan, archaeologists have unearthed a massive, 345-acre (145-hectare) “lost city” known as Semiyarka, or the "City of Seven Ravines," which dates back to 1600 B.C. and is constructed with a level of sophistication thought not to exist so long ago. The city is located on the Irtysh River in the Beskaragay district of Abai Oblast, a location which allows it to look out over the seven valleys of Semiyarka. Originally discovered in 2000, recent evaluations have only now unearthed the settlement’s full size.

Unlike other Bronze Age steppe societies, the City of Seven Ravines was constructed as relatively more modern villages, with houses built about three feet above ground level and arranged in two rows comprising separate compounds.

'Unlike Anything We've Seen'

"The scale and structure of Semiyarka are unlike anything else we've seen in the steppe zone," noted professor Dan Lawrence, a lead archaeologist on the excavation. "The rectilinear compounds and the potentially monumental building show that Bronze Age communities here were developing sophisticated, planned settlements similar to those of their contemporaries in more traditionally 'urban' parts of the ancient world."

Semiyarka Is Notable for Its Metal Production

But even more remarkable than the society’s advanced construction is the evidence of its sophisticated metallurgical production, especially tin bronze. The time and place of tin bronze production has long remained unknown in the archaeological record of steppe zones. An examination of 35 samples revealed that Semiyarka’s craftsmen were making tin bronze by co-smelting and cementing techniques.

"Semiyarka transforms our understanding of steppe societies," explained Miljana Radivojević, one of the lead archaeologists. "It demonstrates that mobile communities were capable of building and sustaining permanent, well-organized settlements centered on large-scale metallurgical production—including the elusive manufacture of tin bronze, a cornerstone of Eurasia's Bronze Age economy."