Early Silk Road Settlement Found in Uzbekistan

MING-TEPE, UZBEKISTAN—The Daily Sabah reports that a 2,000-year-old Silk Road settlement, including a tomb, a workshop, and a garrison for travelers, has been discovered in Central Asia’s Ferghana Valley by a team of archaeologists from the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and the Institute of Archaeology of Uzbekistan. The city is thought to have been part of the Hellenistic Dayuan Kingdom, said in ancient accounts to have linked the descendants of Greek colonists and Chinese civilization. “Chinese and foreign archaeologists are carrying out collaborative work for the re-exploration of the Silk Road,” explained Chen Xingcan, director of CASS. For more on archaeology of the Silk Road, go to “The Price of Tea in China.”