Large-scale medieval urbanism traced by UAV–lidar in highland Central Asia

Aerial light detection and ranging (lidar) has emerged as a powerful technology for mapping urban archaeological landscapes, especially where dense vegetation obscures site visibility1,2. More recently, uncrewed aerial vehicle/drone lidar scanning has markedly improved the resolution of three-dimensional point clouds, allowing for the detection of slight traces of structural features at centimetres of detail across large archaeological sites, a method particularly useful in areas such as mountains, where rapid deposition and erosion irregularly bury and expose archaeological remains3. Here we present the results of uncrewed aerial vehicle–lidar surveys in Central Asia, conducted at two recently discovered archaeological sites in southeastern Uzbekistan: Tashbulak and Tugunbulak. Situated at around 2,000–2,200 m above sea level, these sites illustrate a newly documented geography of large, high-altitude urban centres positioned along the mountainous crossroads of Asia’s medieval Silk Routes (6th–11th century CE (Common Era)4,5. Although hidden by centuries of surface processes, our pairing of very-high-resolution surface modelling with semiautomated feature detection produces a detailed plan of monumental fortifications and architecture spanning 120 ha at Tugunbulak, thereby demonstrating one of the largest highland urban constellations in premodern Central Asia. Documentation of extensive urban infrastructure and technological production among medieval communities in Central Asia’s mountains—a crucial nexus for Silk Road trade networks6—provides a new perspective on the participation of highland populations in the economic, political and social formation of medieval Eurasia.