Lauren Morris | Opening a New Door: Fresh View into Rural Economic Developments in Antique Northern Bactria through Fieldwork at Kulal Tep, Uzbekistan

Institute of Classical Archaeology at CU FA invites you to a lecture by Lauren Morris (Prague, Czech Republic) as part of the “Current Issues in Archaeology” lecture series.

In the Central Asian region of northern Bactria, the Kushan period (1st–3rd centuries CE) has long been understood to witness a peak in the territory’s development, reflecting the hand of a powerful state. Yet, the data that ought to tell this story are surprisingly problematic. The Kulal Tepa Archaeological Project (Czech-Uzbek Archaeological Expedition) was established to create a new evidentiary touchstone for approaching this historical problem, using archaeological excavation and survey to explore the development of a rural micro-oasis in the Kugitang foothills and its prime settlement – Kulal Tepa – throughout the antique and early medieval period. Fresh impressions of the results of three seasons of fieldwork (2023–2024) will be presented, highlighting the ways our data can add new dimensions and alter narratives about broader phenomena within these periods of history.