Archaeobotanical investigations at high-elevation sites of the Pamir Mountains and fergana foothills
Boxleitner K. Spengler R.N., III Alekseitseva V. Chargynov T. Abdykanova A. Sayfuloev N. Shnaider S.
16 January 2026Elsevier Inc.
iScience
2026#29Issue 1
Central Asia, located at the crossroads of Eurasia, played a crucial role in the prehistoric spread of cultivated plants. Archaeobotanical evidence from rockshelters in the Fergana foothills and the Pamir Mountains reveals exchange between lowland and highland zones. Radiocarbon dating shows that broomcorn millet reached the lowlands of northern Central Asia by the late third millennium BCE and foxtail millet by the early second millennium BCE. Walnut and pistachio remains from the Fergana Valley indicate nut foraging as early as 7,800 years ago. The high-altitude site of Kurteke demonstrates cultural and economic links with lowland areas through shared technologies, while its plant assemblage differs from contemporaneous Tien Shan sites, suggesting distinct subsistence strategies. This study identifies early cultivation and foraging patterns along mountain ecoclines and proposes likely routes of crop dispersal across high-elevation Inner Asia, helping fill major gaps in the chronology of prehistoric trans-Eurasian agricultural exchange.
Archeology , Paleobiology
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Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Domestication and Anthropogenic Evolution Research Group, Jena, Germany
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation
Department of Earth and Environmental Systems, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN, United States
Kyrgyz National University Named After J. Balasagyn, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
American University of Central Asia, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography Named After A. Donisha NAST, Dushanbe, Tajikistan
International Research Laboratory ZooStan – ArchaeoZoological Center for the Study of Central Asia – CNRS – Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, IRL, Almaty, 2033, Kazakhstan
Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Department of Earth and Environmental Systems
Kyrgyz National University Named After J. Balasagyn
American University of Central Asia
Institute of History
International Research Laboratory ZooStan – ArchaeoZoological Center for the Study of Central Asia – CNRS – Al-Farabi Kazakh National University
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Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026