Photo: terazus.com
Archaeologists in Kazakhstan have uncovered the ancient city of Semiyarka, dating back to 1600 BCE, revealing a vast urban center that challenges previous ideas about Bronze Age steppe societies. Covering some 140 hectares (346 acres), Semiyarka is four times larger than any other known settlement in the region from that era.
Excavations by teams from University College London, Toraygirov University, and Durham University revealed a planned city layout with multi-room houses arranged in rows and a central monumental building, likely used for rituals or as an elite residence.
A dedicated industrial zone was discovered, including metal smelting crucibles, slag, and tin-bronze artifacts, indicating that Semiyarka was a major metallurgical hub with access to raw materials from the Altai Mountains. Artifacts also suggest extensive trade links with neighboring cultures, highlighting the city’s role as a commercial and economic center of the Bronze Age steppe.
This discovery demonstrates that mobile steppe communities could organize and sustain permanent, highly structured urban settlements, overturning previous assumptions about the region.
