PT Journal
AU Mir-Makhamad, B
   Mirzaakhmedov, S
   Rahmonov, H
   Stark, S
   Omel’chenko, A
   Spengler III, R
TI Qarakhanids on the Edge of the Bukhara Oasis: Archaeobotany of Medieval Paykend
SO Economic Botany: devoted to past, present, and future uses of plants by people
PD December
PY 2021
BP 195
EP 214
VL 75
IS 3-4
PU Springer US
DI 10.1007/s12231-021-09531-6
WP https://www.db-thueringen.de/receive/dbt_mods_00056450
LA en
DE Paykend; Qarakhanids; agriculture; Silk Road; arboriculture; millet; rice.
SN 0013-0001
AB The urban center of Paykend was an exchange node just off the main corridor of the Silk Road in the Bukhara Oasis on the edge of the hyperarid Kyzyl–Kum Desert. The city was occupied from the end of 4 century B.C.E. to the mid–12 century C.E.; our study focuses on the Qarakhanid period (C.E. 999 – 1211), the last imperial phase of urban occupation at Paykend before its abandonment. In this study, we present the results of an analysis of archaeobotanical remains recovered from a multifunction rabat, which appears to have comprised a domicile, military structure, center of commerce, and/or a caravanserai, a roadside inn for travelers. We shed light on how people adapted a productive economy to the local ecological constraints. By adding these data to the limited Qarakhanid archaeobotany from across Central Asia, we provide the first glimpses into cultivation, commerce, and consumption at a Silk Road trading town along the King’s Road, the central artery of ancient Eurasia.
PI New York, NY [u.a.]
ER