‘City of Seven Ravines’: A Bronze Age Metropolis Revealed
Archaeologists have made a landmark discovery, unearthing the secrets of a vast 3,500-year-old settlement in Kazakhstan that is now believed to have been an early form of a city. Described as one of the most significant finds in the region for decades, the 140-hectare Semiyarka site promises to reshape our understanding of ancient steppe civilisations.
A Thriving Hub on the Irtysh River
First identified by researchers from Toraighyrov University in the early 2000s, the site remained largely unexamined until a recent, comprehensive study published in the journal Antiquity. Nicknamed the ‘City of Seven Ravines’ for its strategic position above a network of seven valleys, this historic settlement on the Irtysh River in the Kazakh Steppe is now understood to have been a thriving, fledgling city that peaked around 1600 BC.
Surveys of the area uncovered two rectangular mounds, which experts identify as the foundations of Bronze Age homes. The layout of these houses, each featuring multiple rooms, directly challenges long-held assumptions that steppe peoples lived exclusively in scattered, temporary camps or small villages.
Evidence of Advanced Society and Industry
The findings go beyond domestic life. Archaeologists discovered a central monumental building, suggesting the presence of organised governance or ritual practices. Furthermore, the settlement’s strategic location near major copper and tin deposits in the Altai Mountains indicates it was not just a habitation site but a crucial production and trade hub.
Most strikingly, work in the city’s southeastern sector revealed an ‘industrial zone’ dedicated to the production of tin bronze. The discovery of crucibles, slag, and finished tin bronze artefacts provides concrete proof that steppe metalworkers operated complex, large-scale production systems, not just small workshops.
Dr Miljana Radivojević of the UCL Institute of Archaeology stated that this demonstrates mobile communities were capable of building and sustaining permanent, well-organised settlements centred on sophisticated metallurgy.
Transforming Historical Understanding
This discovery fundamentally transforms the narrative of Bronze Age life in the region. Previously, historians believed people here led a semi-nomadic existence. The scale and sophistication of Semiyarka tell a different story.
Professor Dan Lawrence of Durham University, a co-author of the study, emphasised that the rectilinear compounds and potential monumental building show these communities were developing sophisticated, planned settlements rivaling those in other parts of the ancient world. The research uses cutting-edge methods to reconstruct the social and technological landscape, finally giving a clear picture of how people lived in these early steppe cities.
