Tajikistan will host a large-scale expedition to study the history of Central Asia
From May 1 to May 25, Tajikistan will host a large-scale expedition to study the ancient history of Central Asia. Scientists of Moscow State University and institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences are investigating Loess Paleolithic sites. These unique archaeological sites are evidence of the earliest human penetration into Central Asia more than 1 million years ago.
The 2023 fieldwork completes a five-year research cycle in Southern Tajikistan with the support of the Russian Science Foundation. The expedition team brought together geographers, archaeologists, geologists, soil scientists, geophysicists and experts in absolute dating. Scientists have already managed to answer a number of fundamental questions that shed light on the history of the region. Thus, the researchers found that the earliest penetration of ancient man into Central Asia occurred more than 1 million years ago, and the demographic boom in Central Asia occurred about 500-400 thousand years ago.
In addition, scientists have identified four major migrations of ancient people who inhabited the region in successive waves 1 million, 600, 200 and 50 thousand years ago, and clarified the natural, climatic conditions and changes in landscapes during glacial periods and interglacial periods.
The conclusions were made on the basis of complex interdisciplinary research: the study of petromagnetism and paleomagnetism of rocks, the structure and chemical composition of ancient soils, 3D modeling of stone tools of the Paleolithic and reconstruction of the stages of their creation.
The use of state-of-the-art methods of cosmogenic and luminescent dating made it possible to obtain new revolutionary data on the age of sediments and related events. This opportunity appeared to scientists in 2020 after the creation of the laboratory of optically stimulated luminescent dating at the Faculty of Geography of Moscow State University.
This season, the largest expedition is planned, which completes a five-year research cycle. This will allow us to determine the directions of ancient migrations and answer the question of where the first people came from in Central Asia.
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