We are pleased to share that recent work emerging from our collaborative research on Bronze Age Central Asia has been featured in New Scientist. The coverage highlights the archaeological significance of Semiyarka, a vast Bronze Age settlement in north-eastern Kazakhstan, and situates it within broader debates about complexity, connectivity, and urbanism on the Eurasian steppe.

Archaeological interpretations of the Eurasian steppe have long emphasised mobility, pastoralism, and impermanence. In this view, large-scale urbanism and complex socio-political organisation were largely confined to river valleys and agricultural heartlands elsewhere in Eurasia. Recent research at the site of Semiyarka in north-eastern Kazakhstan challenges this narrative in a fundamental way.

Semiyarka—also known as the City of Seven Ravines—dates to around 1600 BC and covers approximately 140 hectares. Its scale alone places it among the largest Bronze Age settlements known in Central Asia. More importantly, ongoing survey and analysis suggest a level of permanence, planning, and economic specialisation that complicates long-standing assumptions about steppe societies.

The significance of the site is captured clearly in the following excerpt from New Scientist:

*“A large 140-hectare settlement dating back 3600 years has been discovered in north-eastern Kazakhstan, transforming our understanding of life in prehistoric Eurasia. It hints that the open grasslands of Central Asia once held a Bronze Age community as connected and complex as much better-known ancient civilisations.

The Central Asian steppes, however, were thought to be the domain of highly mobile communities living in tents or yurts. Semiyarka, or the ‘City of Seven Ravines’, seems very different and could have played a crucial role in the spread of bronze items among civilisations.

…Crucially, the crucibles, slag and bronze artefacts at the site indicate a large area was dedicated to the production of copper and tin bronze. Due to its position on the river near major copper and tin deposits, the researchers suggest Semiyarka wasn’t only a production hub for bronze, but also a centre of exchange and regional power.”*

Excerpt from Chris Simms, “Vast Bronze Age city discovered on the plains of Kazakhstan,” New Scientist, 18 November 2025. Reproduced within permitted limits.

Beyond its physical scale, Semiyarka’s importance lies in what it reveals about connectivity. The site overlooks the Irtysh river, a major artery linking the Altai mountains with the Siberian north. Evidence from crucibles and slag suggests that tin used in bronze production originated hundreds of kilometres away, implying either long-distance transport networks or sustained regional interaction. In either case, the settlement appears embedded within broader Bronze Age systems of exchange.

Architectural remains further undermine the idea of the steppe as archaeologically “thin.” Earthworks interpreted as defensive features, multiple enclosed household compounds, and a central monumental building point toward long-term occupation and organised social life. Whether the central structure functioned as a ritual, administrative, or political space remains open, but its presence alone signals a degree of institutional complexity rarely associated with steppe contexts.

Taken together, the evidence from Semiyarka suggests that Bronze Age steppe societies were not peripheral to Eurasian developments but actively shaped them. Rather than existing outside civilisation, they participated in—and perhaps helped sustained continent-wide networks of production, exchange, and power. The site thus represents not simply a new data point, but a prompt to rethink the conceptual boundaries of “urbanism” and “complexity” in prehistoric Eurasia.

For the full popular-science account, see the original New Scientist article:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2504671-vast-bronze-age-city-discovered-in-the-plains-of-kazakhstan/