Offering a fresh archaeological interpretation, this work reconceptualizes the Bronze Age prehistory of the vast Eurasian steppe during one of the most formative and innovative periods of human history. Michael D. Frachetti combines an analysis of newly documented archaeological sites in the Koksu River valley of eastern Kazakhstan with detailed paleoecological and ethnohistorical data to illustrate patterns in land use, settlement, burial, and rock art. His investigation illuminates the practical effect of nomadic strategies on the broader geography of social interaction and suggests a new model of local and regional interconnection in the third and second millennia B.C.E. Frachetti further argues that these early nomadic communities played a pivotal role in shaping enduring networks of exchange across Eurasia.
Pastoralist Landscapes and Social Interaction in Bronze Age Eurasia
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Reviews
"A very solid read . . . it is high time that a new perspective on the Eurasian Bronze Age was presented and this work does not disappoint."—Alison Betts Nomadic Peoples 18, no. 1"An innovative and theoretically sophisticated study that sheds much needed light on key issues in Central Asian archaeology."—J. Daniel Rogers, coeditor of The Archaeology of Global Change
"An excellent resource on Eurasian steppe prehistory that utilizes a broad spectrum of data from various disciplines. This book will be important for archaeologists, ethnographers, historians, and geographers."—Sandra Olsen, editor of Horses and Humans: The Evolution of Human-Equine Relationships