AR

CH

EO

LO

GIA

E C

AL

CO

LA

TO

RI

28..22017

€ 72,00

ISSN 1120-6861e-ISSN 2385-1953

ISBN 978-88-7814-785-0e-ISBN 978-88-7814-786-7

ARCHEOLOGIA E CALCOLATORI28.22017

All’Insegna del Giglio

KNOWLEDGE, ANALYSIS AND INNOVATIVE METHODS

FOR THE STUDY AND THE DISSEMINATION OF ANCIENT URBAN AREAS

Proceedings of the KAINUA 2017 International Conference in Honour

of Professor Giuseppe Sassatelli’s 70th Birthday (Bologna, 18-21 April 2017)

edited by Simone Garagnani, Andrea Gaucci

Kno

wle

dg

e, A

naly

sis

and

Inno

vativ

e M

etho

ds

fo

r th

e S

tud

y an

d th

e D

isse

min

atio

n o

f Anc

ient

Urb

an A

reas

Pro

ceed

ing

s o

f the

KA

INU

A 2

017

Inte

rnat

iona

l Co

nfer

ence

ARCHEOLOGIA E CALCOLATORI28.22017

All’Insegna del Giglio

KNOWLEDGE, ANALYSIS AND INNOVATIVE METHODS

FOR THE STUDY AND THE DISSEMINATION OF ANCIENT URBAN AREAS

Proceedings of the KAINUA 2017 International Conference in Honour

of Professor Giuseppe Sassatelli’s 70th Birthday (Bologna, 18-21 April 2017)

edited by Simone Garagnani, Andrea Gaucci

Realizzazione grafica della sovracoperta di Marcello Bellisario Rivista «Archeologia e Calcolatori» (ISSN 1120-6861, e-ISSN 2385-1953) ISBN 978-88-7814-785-0, e-ISBN 978-88-7814-786-7 © 2017 – All’Insegna del Giglio s.a.s. – www.insegnadelgiglio.it Firenze, dicembre 2017 Stampa, Andersen S.p.a. Abbonamento: € 40,00. Spedizione: Italia, gratuita; estero, a carico del destinatario.

I dati forniti dai sottoscrittori degli abbonamenti vengono utilizzati esclusivamente per l’invio della pubblicazione e non vengono ceduti a terzi per alcun motivo.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Simone Garagnani, Andrea Gaucci, Elisabetta Govi, Ancient reality and contemporary research. An introduction to the Conference KAINUA 2017 and its Proceedings 11

ANCIENT CITIES: PAST AND CURRENT PERSPECTIVES

Mario Torelli, From ruins to reconstruction: past and present 27

Paola Moscati, Archaeological computing and ancient cities: insights from the repository of «Archeologia e Calcolatori» 47

KAINUA PROJECT

Giovannangelo Camporeale†, Sulla genesi della città nell’Italia preromana. Economia, sociologia, urbanistica: il caso dell’insediamento dell’Accesa 69

Elisabetta Govi, Kainua-Marzabotto: the archaeological framework 87

Andrea Gaucci, Kainua Project: principles, theoretical framework and archaeological analysis 99

Giulia Morpurgo, Chiara Pizzirani, Chiara Mattioli, The craft settings in Kainua-Marzabotto: places and archaeological issues 113

Stefano Santocchini Gerg, Enrico Zampieri, Bojana Gruška, Giacomo Mancuso, Topographical survey and digital models 129

Simone Garagnani, Archaeological Building Information Modeling: beyond scalable representation of architecture and archaeology 141

Aurelio Muzzarelli, Malik Franzoia, The ancient Digital Terrain Model and the infrastructure of the Etruscan city of Kainua 151

Bojana Gruška, Giacomo Mancuso, Enrico Zampieri, Building materials and virtual models of the Etruscan city of Kainua 165

Giuseppe Sassatelli, Kainua Project Special Session: conclusioni 177

ETRUSCAN CITIES AND THEIR LANDSCAPES: NEW PERSPECTIVES, INNOVATIVE METHODS AND DISSEMINATION

Carmine Pellegrino, Amedeo Rossi, Contemporary landscape and the archaeological record. An integrated approach to the study of the Etruscan-Samnite site of Pontecagnano (SA) 189

Maria Paola Baglione, Barbara Belelli Marchesini, Claudia Carlucci, Laura Maria Michetti, Pyrgi, harbour and sanctuary of Caere: landscape, urbanistic planning and architectural features 201

Giovanna Bagnasco Gianni, Matilde Marzullo, Andrea Garzulino, The last ten years of research at Tarquinia 211

Giuseppina Enrica Cinque, Henri Broise, Vincent Jolivet, Civita Musarna (VT), il suo territorio e la chora di Tarquinia in età ellenistica: uno spazio ritualmente suddiviso? 223

Patricia S. Lulof, Maarten H. Sepers, The Acquarossa Memory Project. Reconstructing an Etruscan town 233

Emanuele Taccola, Lisa Rosselli, Understanding Etruscan art and architecture through 3D modeling: the case of Volterra 243

Tommaso Quirino, Open architecture RDBMS and GIS as tools for analysing the Etruscan presence in the Po Plain: towards a model of the urban / non urban landscape 253

FROM THE ANCIENT CITIES TO THE LANDSCAPES: PROJECTS AND RESEARCHES

Frank Vermeulen, Scanning and visualization of Roman Adriatic townscapes 269

Alessandro Campedelli, Marco Dubbini, Martina Monica, Geo-archaeological study of the territory of Burnum’s Roman site (Croatia) through LANDSAT multi-temporal satellite images and high resolution GeoEye 277

Ilaria Rossetti, Reshaping the urban space: Bakchias in Ptolemaic and Roman times 291

Federica Boschi, Enrico Giorgi, Michele Silani, Reconstructing the ancient urban landscape in a long-lived city: the Asculum Project – combining research, territorial planning and preventative archaeology 301

Ferran Codina, Gabriel de Prado, Isis Ruiz, Albert Sierra, The Iberian town of Ullastret (Catalonia). An Iron Age urban agglomeration reconstructed virtually 311

Anna Chiara Fariselli, Federica Boschi, Michele Silani, Melania Marano, Tharros – Capo San Marco in the Phoenician and Punic Age. Geophysical investigations and virtual rebuilding 321

Simone Mantellini, A city and its landscape across time: Samarkand in the ancient Sogdiana (Uzbekistan) 333

STARTING AND ONGOING PROJECTS

Stefano Finocchi, Vincenzo Baldoni, Numana and its ancient territory: new data and research perspectives 345

Giuseppe Lepore, Enrico Giorgi, Vincenzo Baldoni, Federica Boschi, Maria Concetta Parello, Maria Serena Rizzo, New methodologies to analyze and study the Hellenistic-Roman quarter in Agrigento 353

Michele Silani, Enrico Giorgi, Federica Boschi, Gabriele Bitelli, Alberta Martellone, Seeing into the past: integrating 3D documentation and non-invasive prospecting methods for the analysis, understanding and reconstruction of the ancient Pompeii. The case of the House of Obellio Firmo (IX, 14) 361

Isabel Escrivà, José J. Marín, Albert Ribera, Miquel Rosselló, Alfredo Santonja, Reconstructing the Late Antiquity Episcopal Complex of Valentia 369

Gervasio Illiano, Misenum: the harbour and the city. Landscapes in context 379

Valeria Poscetti, Saverio Giulio Malatesta, Virginia Cirilli, Francesco Lella, Vito Rondinelli, Salvatore Esposito, Marco Balsi, Preliminary results of the Castelmonardo Project 391

METHODOLOGIES, APPLICATIONS AND INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS

Maria Roussou, Francesco Ripanti, Katerina Servi, Engaging visitors of archaeological sites through “emotive” storytelling experiences: a pilot at the Ancient Agora of Athens 405

Marco Gaiani, Management and communication of archaeological artefacts and architectural heritage using digital IS. What today? What next? 421

Andrea D’Andrea, Angela Bosco, Marco Barbarino, A 3D environment to rebuild virtually the so-called Augusteum in Herculaneum 437

Giovanna Liberotti, Corrado Alvaro, Using laser scanner technology to analyse mud-brick architecture in the ancient Near East. The Palatial Complex of Arslantepe (Malatya, Turkey) 447

Moisés Hernández Cordero, Geomatics approach to surveys for Late Antiquity buildings. The Episcopal Palace in Side, Turkey 457

Filiberto Chiabrando, Giulia Sammartano, Antonia Spanò, Grazia Semeraro, Multi-temporal images and 3D dense models for archaeological site monitoring in Hierapolis of Phrygia (TR) 469

Elisabetta Donadio, Riccardo Mazza, Federico Barello, Multimedia digital solutions from image and range based models for ancient landscapes communication 485

Valeria Cera, Knowledge and valorization of historical sites through low-cost, gaming sensors and H-BIM models. The case study of Liternum 497

Alfonso Ippolito, Martina Attenni, Cristiana Bartolomei, Digital acquisition: reflections on data quality 507

Aaron Pattee, Armin Volkmann, Matthias Untermann, Integrative GIS-based investigation of the medieval fortress architecture of Pfalz, incorporating photogrammetry, geoinformatics and landscape analysis 521

Jacopo Bonetto, Arturo Zara, The Nora Virtual Tour: an immersive visit in the ancient city 531

Silvia Bernardoni, Marco Montanari, Raffaele Trojanis, Open History Map 539

Giovanni Azzena, Roberto Busonera, Chiara Perini, The future (?) of effective protection 549

SHORT PAPERS

Sara Loreto, Gropello Cairoli (PV): computer applications for historical-topographic synthesis 563

Annachiara Penzo, Federica Proni, Antonio Gottarelli, The archaelogical settlement of Monte Bibele (Bologna) 571

Ilenia Gradante, Davide Tanasi, 3D digital technologies for architectural analysis. The case of the “Pagan Shrine” in the Catacombs of Santa Lucia (Siracusa, Sicily) 581

Francesco Gabellone, Ivan Ferrari, Reconstruction of Villino Florio’s wooden ceiling using 3D technologies 587

Francesco Gabellone, Ivan Ferrari, Francesco Giuri, Maria Chiffi, 3D technologies for a critical reading and philological presentation of ancient contexts 591

Antonio Pecci, Fabio Donnici, When there was no GIS system: rediscovering archaeological researches of the 19th century through the use of the drone. The case study of Mount Siri (Anzi, Basilicata) 597

Martijn van der Kaaij, Heron Visualisation Engine. Visualisation and dissemination of semantic cultural heritage data 603

Tatiana Votroubeková, Etruscan rock-cut tombs with decorated façades. A 3D approach 609

333

Archeologia e Calcolatori28.2, 2017, 333-342

A CITY AND ITS LANDSCAPE ACROSS TIME: SAMARKAND IN THE ANCIENT SOGDIANA (UZBEKISTAN)

1. Introduction

Well-known as a historical crossroad along the Silk Road, Samarkand has always been a major political and socio-economic center of ancient Central Asia. Alongside many other Central Asian regions, where oral tradition prevails over written documents, the possibility of reconstructing its major urban development was mostly based on archaeological discoveries. Since the late 19th century, Afra-siab (the site corresponding to ancient Samarkand) was the object of systematic explorations by Russian and Soviet archaeologists and, in the last three decades, by the Mission Archéologique Franco-Ouzbek (MAFOuz) (Grenet 2004). These works shed new light on the history of Samarkand, however, a comprehensive understanding of its past is still incomplete because investigations dealt only with few sectors of Afrasiab when compared to its total extension (220 ha).

As early 2001 when the Uzbek Italian Archaeological Project (UIAP) “Sa-markand and Its Territory” began as a joint collaboration between the University of Bologna and the Institute of Archaeology of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences, attention was addressed to the territory behind the city (Shirinov, Tosi 2003; Berdimuradov et al. 2007). Assuming that the territory has always sustained economically the city by providing it with basic resources and products, our at-tempt was to consider the city of Samarkand as integral with its hinterland. We used the data from the territory to reconstruct the major settlement dynamics and landscape transformations. The main goal of this paper is therefore to provide new data on the city of Samarkand by analyzing three major socio-economic topics from its territory such as irrigated agriculture, breeding and local routes.

2. Environmental setting

The Samarkand oasis is a rich floodplain located in the middle of the Zeravshan Valley (Fig. 1). The different ecological zones shaping this oasis have always allowed multiple exploitations of the available resources (Di Cugno, Mantellini, Berdimuradov 2013) and a mutual exchange between settled farmers and semi-mobile pastoralists. The fertile soil in the alluvial plain, improved with artificial canals, allowed the development of agricul-ture, while the riverine zone along the Zeravshan is a wild habitat suitable for hunting and wild resources. The Karatyube Mountains provide summer pastures, stones and trees for building; flocks of sheep and cowherds graze in the steppe foothills, where rain-fed agriculture is also possible. A semi-arid

334

S. Mantellini

Fig. 1 – Samarkand (star in the box on the upper right) and the major geographical features and archae-ological sites relevant to this paper inside the UIAP AOI: 1) Afrasiab (Maracanda); 2) Kafir Kala; 3) Kurgan Kadirbek; 4) Koitepa; 5) Boyssartepa (Sazagan); 6) Penjikent; 7) Koktepe. On the background a 1988-1991 Landsat Orthorectified TM image (RGB band combination 1-2-3 converted to Greyscale).

regime characterizes this region, with an average annual precipitation of ca. 400 mm and a daily mean temperature of 14°C. Hence, extensive cultivations are possible here only by an appropriate water management (Stride, Rondel-li, Mantellini 2009; Mantellini, Rondelli, Stride 2011; Mantellini 2015). Since ancient times, artificial irrigation has been based on two major irrigation systems, the Dargom S and the Bulungur N, both diverted from the Zeravshan River at the height of the May 1st Dam. The natural piedmont streams also ensure an additional water supply during the rainy seasons.

3. Historical background

The foundation of Samarkand dates back to the late 6th century BCE, when the city also became the capital of the Achaemenid Satrapy of Sogdi-ana (Shishkina 1994). During his campaign in Central Asia, Alexander the Great conquered Samarkand in 329 BCE and since then the city has appeared in the sources as Maracanda. As elsewhere in Central Asia, the following

335

A city and its landscape across time: Samarkand in the ancient Sogdiana (Uzbekistan)

Fig. 2 – The “four Samarkands” from a 2017 Google Earth satellite image.

post-Hellenistic centuries are mostly unknown in texts (Bernard 1994, 99). It was however ascertained that Samarkand was outside the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom and the later nomadic Kushan empires, but the MAFOuz revealed Kangju layers at both Afrasiab and Koktepe (Rapin, Isamiddinov 2013, 129-130). Marshak and Negmatov (1996, 233) summarize well the pre-Islamic centuries, when Sogdiana was fundamentally circumscribed to Samarkand region: «It [Sogdiana] was neither a powerful state itself nor firmly subjected to any of the neighbouring empires». This was the time of the rich trades along the Silk Road and the well-known Sogdian traders (de la Vaissiere 2002). The Arab conquest at the beginning of the 8th century CE introduced Islam and brought significant political and socio-economical changes in this region. The UIAP activities at Kafir Kala demonstrated how, during the Islamic period, this fortified settlement sharply changed from an important administrative center to mere housing residential units (Mantellini et al. 2017). The Mongol invasion of Gengis Khan in 1220 led to the complete abandonment of Maracanda. The following medieval city developed S of the former, and it had a relevant renaissance when, in the 14th century, Tamerlane made Samarkand the capital of his vast empire.

Major historical events influenced the city development, causing not only a vertical superimposition of historical layers but also a sort of “urban horizontal shift”. Looking at the city from the space it is possible to distinguish “four Samarkands” (Fig. 2): 1) the Maracanda abandoned after the Mongol invasion (today Afrasiab); 2) the medieval capital of Tamerlane; 3) the Russian city (1868-20th century); 4) the present-day city, which expanded significantly between the Zeravshan and the Dargom in the last decades.

336

S. Mantellini

4. Research approach and method

The UIAP area of investigation (AOI) corresponded to the six administra-tive districts S of the Zeravshan River, for a total extension of ca. 2,500 km². The boundaries were the border with Tajikistan (E), the Karatyube-Zeravshan Mountains (S), the Pasdargom District border (W) and the Zeravshan River (N).

The research approach was based on the following steps (Rondelli, Mantellini 2004; Mantellini, Rondelli, Stride 2011, 388-393):

1) collection of historical and recent spatial datasets (topographic maps, satellite imagery, aerial photos, digital elevation models, previous regional investiga-tions); 2) preliminary desktop assessment of anthropogenic features in the AOI by remote sensing techniques; 3) field visits; 4) data processing and analysis.

Desktop identification dealt principally with two main classes of archaeo-logical features: anthropic mounds (locally known as tepa) and abandoned canals (Mantellini 2014, 39-41). The first refers to artificial hills, usually built up in mud bricks and with a multi-period occupation from the Achaemenids onwards. They differ in size, height, shape, and topographical complexity, while their function (settlement, fortification, production, etc.) is difficult to establish without any evidence from excavation. Because of their volume and ground raising, tepa were accurately mapped by Soviet topographers as early as the 1950s (Mantellini 2014, 40). High-resolution satellite imagery, especially the Corona dated to the 1960s and the most recent free-of-cost Bing, Google Earth and World Imagery, proved very useful in detecting both tepa and traces of ancient irrigation systems, including minor canals and field boundaries.

Later ground inspections were essential to validate the presence of anthropogenic features and their preservation state, as well as to collect ar-chaeological finds useful for establishing their chronology. The field approach was differentiated according to the different landscapes inside the AOI. The urban space and the cultivated areas allowed only a survey targeted to the spot where the tepa is/was located. On the contrary, the excellently preserved archaeological landscape in the steppe and Karatyube piedmont required an intensive field-walking there to record those features other than tepa, which were either barely visible or impossible to detect on satellite data. The first were small burials (known as kurgan), usually clustered together, characterized by a slight elevation and underground stone chambers often marked on the ground by one or more stone circles. The second were low mounds, with a very limited vertical extension (ca. 0.5-1 m) and diameter (a few meters) and likely referring to a short-time occupation. Recent investigations at Kurgan

337

A city and its landscape across time: Samarkand in the ancient Sogdiana (Uzbekistan)

Kadirbek, also proved that these sites might not necessarily be burials as their toponyms suggest (Mantellini 2014, 42). Finally, flat sites concerned the dispersion of ceramic sherds over a few square meters.

If tepa, low mounds and canals were always connected to the presence of settled farmers practicing irrigated agriculture, kurgan were instead usually connected with nomads and semi-mobile pastoral communities.

5. Results

The UIAP survey resulted in the identification of 2,000+ archaeological sites (tepa, low mounds, flat sites, kurgan) and multitude traces pertaining to abandoned canals (Fig. 3) (Mantellini, Berdimuradov 2016). The first observations concerned the impressive destruction degree attested in this area. Because of the massive agricultural intensification and urban development of the last decades, around 40% of tepa were completely flattened by bulldozers. Likewise, it is also arguable that the same reclamation activities filled up with earth many abandoned canal beds. Historical spatial datasets, where both tepa and canals were mapped, suggested that this transformation occurred mainly between the 1960s and 1980s. However, it is worth noting that still today people in the countryside still use tepa as quarries for building material.

The finds gathered on the field make possible to trace the major historical settlement development of this region (Fig. 4). The uncertain chronology of many ceramic forms, especially those pertaining to transition period, just permits some considerations in terms of historical-cultural horizons rather than accurate centuries. Although Samarkand was founded in the Achaemenid period (late 6th century BCE), the number of coeval sites is very small in its territory. The settlement growth began with Alexander (4th century BCE), it increased significantly in the post-Hellenistic centuries (3rd-1st centuries BCE) and it reached its height in the pre-Islamic centuries (6th-7th centuries CE). Despite the reduction that followed the Arab conquest of the early 8th century CE, the settlement remained stable during the Samanids and the Karakhanids (9th-12th centuries CE). After the drop connected with the Mongol conquest in 1220, the Timurids (14th-15th centuries CE) attested a new revival.

6. Land use

The discoveries hitherto available within the UIAP make possible the following, preliminary observations on the human-environment interactions in the Samarkand oasis southern sector.

Several traces of abandoned canals, and their proximity to tepa and low mounds, testify to the irrigation effort over almost the entire dry territory around Samarkand. A specific geo-archaeological study was conducted with the specific

338

S. Mantellini

Fig. 3 – Archaeological sites resulting from the UIAP survey with hypothesis of major ancient canals (1 early Dargom; 2 Yangìaryk; 3 Eskì Angar; 4 Siab; 5 late Dargom), pasture lands and local routes (background: 2012 ASTER GDEM with slope). For the major sites numeration see Fig. 1.

aim of providing new evidence on the beginning of irrigated agriculture in this region. The X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis of sediments, either from the natural piedmont streams (brown-reddish coarse gravel) or canals fed by the Zeravshan (fine gray sand), proved the existence of several canals in addition to the Dargom (Malatesta et al. 2012). Satellite imagery and topographical maps also provided excellent information on their original courses, length and width. If today the Dargom meanders encased in its bed, hardly exceeding 50 m in width, the abandoned canal beds in the steppe proved that once the Dar-gom was much linear and larger, even 250-300 m between levees, and probably navigable as well. In its origin, the Dargom probably ran SW and reached the Kashkadarya Valley, while the present section from Kishrau to the confluence with the Zeravshan is a later development (Mantellini 2015, 6-7).

The chronology of the Dargom and the ancient canals of Samarkand is a debated question (Isamiddinov 2002, 15-30; Mantellini 2015). Dating irrigation canals is always a difficult and hard task, especially when data from stratigraphic contexts are poor and absolute chronologies few when compared to the available samples. It is therefore difficult to ascertain whether all the

339

A city and its landscape across time: Samarkand in the ancient Sogdiana (Uzbekistan)

Fig. 4 – Chronological distribution of sites from the UIAP survey.

canals identified by UIAP were functioning simultaneously or if they belonged to different phases. 14C dating of samples collected by UIAP from alluvial layers at Kafir Kala and Sam-174 sites allow only establishing that the Dar-gom-Yanghìaryk irrigation system was certainly functioning in the 80-240 cal AD (Malatesta et al. 2012, 98). This is the same time when Ptolemy mentioned the Dargom as the main water supply of Maracanda in his Geography. How-ever, the multitude of sites dated to the post-Hellenistic centuries and located very close to the abandoned canals in the steppe, suggest to place the origin of this system around the 3rd-1st centuries BCE (Mantellini 2015, 6). This chro-nology is confirmed also by the stratigraphic excavations conducted by UIAP at Boyssartepa, Koitepa (Abdullaev, Genito 2014), and Kurgan Kadirbek.

If this impressive irrigation network watered almost the whole plain, there is a space area (approximately 100 km²) in the desktop assessment, which was empty of archaeological sites. This area stands in the rain-fed strip between 800 and 900 m asl and just above traces of the Yanghìaryk, i.e. the ancient uppermost identified canal. The lack of any human settlement there,

340

S. Mantellini

also confirmed by field inspections, suggests that this area was specifically addressed to grazing purposes. The presence in the above foothill of several kurgan burials, usually associated with semi-mobile pastoralist communities, seems to confirm this hypothesis.

A few considerations on the local routes connecting Samarkand with its hinterland, and further to nearby regional centers, are also possible based on the main settlement locations and the local geomorphology (Rondelli, Tosi 2006, 481-483; Mantellini 2014, 45). A major EW route probably ran almost parallel to the Zeravshan southern bank, a couple of kilometers from it. It may have corresponded to the actual highways linking Samarkand eastward with Penjikent to the E (Tajikistan) and then continuing westward to Navoi and Bukhara. The SN axis linking Samarkand to Shahrisabz in the Kashkadarya Valley offered different options. The westernmost path ran in its first part inside the Jam corridor and then reached Samarkand along the Karatyube foothill (the same road as today) or slightly northward, passing in the middle of the present steppe. This is certainly the more suitable path, with a very limited slope. The large number of sites, including Koitepa, dated to the post-Hellenistic centuries suggests that this route was used as early as that period, or even earlier. A second way, still utilized today and characterized by a high inclination, developed later via the Amankutan/Takhta Karaga Pass (ca. 1,800 m asl). This path was proba-bly exploited in connection with the settlement growth attested during the Early Middle Ages in the present Samarkand Selski and Urgut districts. The presence of an important administrative center at Kafir Kala, possibly associated with the payments of duties and strategically located close to the Dargom crossing, may support this hypothesis (Masson 1928; Mantellini, Berdimuradov 2005). More paths ran eastward, encased between the mountains. They linked the Kashkadarya Valley with the Urgut Valley or, further E via the pass of Farab, with Penjikent and the Upper Zeravshan Valley.

7. Conclusion

The significant transformations caused by natural (alluvium) and cultural (urbanization and agriculture) factors, as well as the few written sources, restrict our historical understanding of the development of the city of Samarkand and its territory. The data hitherto collected either at regional and local scale from the UIAP demonstrated how the complex history of Samarkand could be understood only in the context of its territory. The various ecological zones were exploited for different purposes, allowing the development of a combined economy based on irrigated agriculture and grazing. This influenced the socio-political dynamics between the settled farmers in the plain and the semi-mobile pastoralists in the steppe. Although Samarkand was an important regional urban center as early as the Achaemenid time (6th century BCE), the UIAP data indicate that the early

341

A city and its landscape across time: Samarkand in the ancient Sogdiana (Uzbekistan)

systematic occupation of its territory began only in the post-Hellenistic centuries (late 4th-1st centuries BCE). This development must be seen in connection with the progress in artificial irrigation, which allowed to spread agriculture over the almost entire southern floodplain. The development of Samarkand in the later periods seems to matching what happened in its hinterland. Settlement increased in the Early Middle Ages while a drop followed the Arab (early 8th century) and the Mongol (early 13th century) conquests of the city, causing the abandonment of the city and many other settlements in its surroundings until a new blooming under Timurid dynasty (14th-15th centuries).

Simone MantelliniAlma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna

Dipartimento di Storia Culture Civiltàsimone.mantellini@unibo.it

REFERENCES

Abdullaev K., Genito B. 2014 (eds.), The Archaeological Project in the Samarkand Area (Sogdiana): Excavation at Kojtepa (2008-2012), Samarkand-Napoli, Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”.

Berdimuradov A.E., Franceschini F., Giorgetti D., Mantellini S., Rondelli B., Tosi M. 2007, Samarkand and its territory: From archaeological map to cultural landscape management, «Bulletin of the International Institute for Central Asian Studies», 6, 22-33.

Bernard P. 1994, The Greek kingdoms of Central Asia, in J. Harmatta (ed.), History of Civi-lizations of Central Asia, II. The Development of Sedentary and Nomadic Civilizations: 770 B.C. to A.D. 250, Paris, UNESCO Publishing, 99-129.

de La Vaissière É. 2002, Histoire des marchands sogdiens, Paris, Collège de France.Di Cugno S., Mantellini S., Berdimuradov A.E. 2013, Traditional techniques, resource

exploitation and archaeological record: An ethnographical study from the oasis of Sa-markand (Uzbekistan), in F. Lugli, A.A. Stoppiello, S. Biagetti (eds.), Ethnoarchaeo-logy: Current Research and Field Methods. Conference Proceedings (Rome 2010), BAR International Series 2472, Oxford, Archaeopress, 99-106.

Grenet F. 2004, Maracanda/Samarkand, une métropole pré-mongole. Sources écrites et ar-chéologie, «Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales», 59, 5-6, 1043-1067.

Isamiddinov M.Kh. 2002, Istoki gorodskoy kultury samarkandskogo sogda [The origins of urban culture in Samarkand Sogd], Tashkent, Izdatelstvo nardodnogo naslediya imeni A. Kadyri.

Malatesta L.C., Castelltort S., Mantellini S., Picotti V., Hajdas I., Simpson G., Ber-dimuradov A.E., Tosi M., Willett S.D. 2012, Dating the irrigation system of the Samarkand oasis: A geoarchaeological study, «Radiocarbon», 54, 91-105.

Mantellini S. 2014, Settlement dynamics, territory exploitation, and trade routes in the ancient Samarkand oasis (Uzbekistan), in B. Genito, L. Caterina (eds.), Archeologia delle “Vie della Seta”. Percorsi, Immagini e Cultura Materiale. II Ciclo di Conferenze, Napoli, Centro Interdipartimentale di Servizi di Archeologia (CISA), 38-59.

Mantellini S. 2015, Irrigation systems in Samarkand, in H. Selin (ed.), Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures, Dordrecht, Springer Science+Business Media, 1-14.

Mantellini S., Berdimuradov A.E. 2005, Archaeological explorations in the Sogdian fortress of Kafir Kala (Samarkand region, Republic of Uzbekistan), «Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia», 11, 107-132.

342

S. Mantellini

Mantellini S., Berdimuradov A.E. 2016, The archaeological and historical heritage of Samarkand: An overview from the Uzbek-Italian Expedition 2001-2016, in A.E. Ber-dimuradov (ed.), Archaeology of Uzbekistan During the Years of the Independence: Progress and Perspectives, Samarkand, Institute of Archaeology of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences, 60-63.

Mantellini S., di Cugno S., Dimartino R., Berdimuradov A.E. 2017, Change and con-tinuity in the Samarkand oasis: Evidence for the islamic conquest from the citadel of Kafir Kala, «The Journal of Inner Asian Art and Archaeology», 7, 221-247.

Mantellini S., Rondelli B., Stride S. 2011, Analytical approach for representing the water landscape evolution in Samarkand oasis (Uzbekistan), in E. Jerem, F. Redi, F.V. Szeveréni (eds.), On the Road to Reconstructing the Past. Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA). Proceedings of the 36th International Conference (Budapest 2008), Budapest, Archaeolingua Foundation, 387-396.

Marshak B.I., Negmatov N.N. 1996, Sogdiana, in B.A. Litvisnky (ed.), History of Civiliza-tions of Central Asia, III. The Crossroad of Civilizations: A.D. 250-750, Paris, UNESCO Publishing, 233-280.

Masson M.E. 1928, O mestonakhozhdenii sada Timura Davlet-abad [On the location of the Timurid garden of Davletabad], «Izvestiya Sredne-Aziatskogo Komiteta», 3, 43-48.

Rapin C., Isamiddinov M.Kh. 2013, Entre sédentaires et nomades: les recherches de la Mission archéologique franco-ouzbèke (MAFOuz) de Sogdiane sur le site de Koktepe, «Cahiers d’Asie Centrale», 21/22, 113-133.

Rondelli B., Mantellini S. 2004, Methods and perspective for ancient settlement studies in the middle Zeravshan Valley, «The Silk Road Newsletter», 2, 35-39.

Rondelli B., Tosi M. 2006, GIS and Silk Road studies: Monitoring landscape and population changes at Samarkand and in the middle Zeravshan Valley, in T. Uno (ed.), Reading Hi-storical Spatial Information from Around the World. Studies of Culture and Civilization Based on Geographic Information Systems Data (Kyoto 2005), Kyoto, International Research Center for Japanese Studies, 459-489.

Shirinov T., Tosi M. 2003, Land behind Samarkand. The archaeological map of the middle Zeravshan Valley: Perspectives and geographical repartitions, in S. Pagani (ed.), Italo-Uzbek Scientific Cooperation in Archaeology and Islamic Studies: An Overview (Rome 2001), Roma, Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente, 13-40.

Shishkina G.V. 1994, Ancient Samarkand: Capital of Soghd, «Bulletin of the Asia Institute», 8, 81-99.

Stride S., Rondelli B., Mantellini S. 2009, Canals versus horses: Political power in the oasis of Samarkand, «World Archaeology», 41, 73-87.

ABSTRACT

Located in the heartland of Central Asia, Samarkand has always been an economic, cultur-al, ethnic, linguistic and religious hub along the ancient Silk Road. A regional approach, based on a GIS remote sensing assessment followed by field validation, was used here to reconstruct the urban evolution of Samarkand in connection with its hinterland. The basic archaeological features in the landscape (anthropic mounds, canals and burials) allowed us to reconstruct the main forms of land use and resource exploitation according to site distribution and chronology. If Samarkand was established as early as the Achaemenid period (late 6th century BCE), the evidence dated to that time from its hinterland is scarce. A first significant increase occurred during the post-Hellenistic centuries (3rd-1st centuries BCE), and reached the peak at the time of the most intense trade along the Silk Road just before the major changes following the Arab conquest of the early 8th century CE. Data also demonstrated how the development of Samarkand must be closely linked with a proper exploitation of its territory. A massive and complex irrigation system in the floodplain ensured the supply of water necessary to develop extensive farming and daily-life activities, while rain-fed foothills were used as pastures.

AR

CH

EO

LO

GIA

E C

AL

CO

LA

TO

RI

28..22017

€ 72,00

ISSN 1120-6861e-ISSN 2385-1953

ISBN 978-88-7814-785-0e-ISBN 978-88-7814-786-7

ARCHEOLOGIA E CALCOLATORI28.22017

All’Insegna del Giglio

KNOWLEDGE, ANALYSIS AND INNOVATIVE METHODS

FOR THE STUDY AND THE DISSEMINATION OF ANCIENT URBAN AREAS

Proceedings of the KAINUA 2017 International Conference in Honour

of Professor Giuseppe Sassatelli’s 70th Birthday (Bologna, 18-21 April 2017)

edited by Simone Garagnani, Andrea Gaucci

Kno

wle

dg

e, A

naly

sis

and

Inno

vativ

e M

etho

ds

fo

r th

e S

tud

y an

d th

e D

isse

min

atio

n o

f Anc

ient

Urb

an A

reas

Pro

ceed

ing

s o

f the

KA

INU

A 2

017

Inte

rnat

iona

l Co

nfer

ence