Overview
- An international team published the first detailed survey of Semiyarka in Antiquity, mapping a 140-hectare Late Bronze Age site now considered the largest known ancient settlement in the Kazakh Steppe.
- Remote sensing and surface collections outline rectilinear household compounds and a larger central structure that may have served communal, ritual or governance functions.
- Crucibles, slag and tin-bronze artifacts identify an industrial zone for alloy production, with compositions consistent with Altai tin sources.
- The settlement occupies a promontory above the Irtysh River, a strategic corridor that likely facilitated regional exchange and metal distribution.
- Targeted excavations are underway and yielding additional material, while some specialists urge caution about labeling Semiyarka a city pending evidence on population density and contemporaneity.