Walls in the desert: fortified enclosures, urbanism and settlement in the ancient Central Asian oasis of Khorezm

Abstract

The fortified enclosures of Late Iron Age/Antique Khorezm (Chorasmia) (7th/6th century BCE–4th century CE) have been characterised by previous scholars as the urban centres of a centralised, agricultural state, yet there is little evidence that they were permanent, nucleated settlements. Urbanism varies according to regional and temporal contexts, and the Khorezmian fortified sites do not exhibit conventional urban characteristics. The thesis re-interprets the Khorezmian fortified sites and their archaeological landscape, utilizing contemporary theoretical approaches, archaeological legacy data and original field surveys. The paradigm of mobility is used as an interpretive framework, which is more inclusive of the diverse and adaptable subsistence and production strategies employed by ancient Central Asian societies. This study establishes that the large Khorezmian fortified enclosure sites were not urban settlements, largely due to the lack of concentrated, intra-mural habitation, however, they were the equivalent of cities for mobile polities. The major site of Akchakhan-kala (Kazakly-yatkan) and the micro-region surrounding it in the Akcha-darya delta of western Uzbekistan are analysed in detail via new prospection surveys, remote sensing and geophysical investigations. Spatial and temporal analyses clearly identify that settlement occurred in unfortified, low-density, non-nucleated zones along watercourses and supply canals. Different activities were spread around the delta oasis, often in isolated, single-function sites, suggesting that the population was highly mobile. Although the fortified sites performed defensive roles, they were purpose-specific, highly symbolic, monumental complexes located within the low-density settlement zones. The large, fortified enclosure sites were the political, administrative and ceremonial capitals of mobile agro-pastoral societies. In this sense, the Khorezmian enclosure sites present an alternative model to that of nucleated urbanism. This study contributes to the emerging discourse on low-density, Eurasian steppe urbanism and demonstrates that the Khorezmian fortified sites and settlement zones were part of a wider agro-pastoral settlement adaptation prevalent across pre-Islamic Inner Eurasia.