An international team of archaeologists from UCL, Durham University, and Toraighyrov University (Kazakhstan) has uncovered the remains of a vast Bronze Age settlement, Semiyarka, in the Kazakh steppe — a discovery that is transforming our understanding of urban life and metal production in prehistoric Eurasia.
Archaeologists have identified a sprawling 140-hectare settlement perched dramatically above the Irtysh River in northeastern Kazakhstan, as one of the most remarkable discoveries in steppe archaeology in decades. Nicknamed the “City of Seven Ravines” for its commanding position above a network of seven valleys, Semiyarka reveals a previously unknown form of planned settlement that thrived around 1600 BC, in the heart of the Eurasian grasslands.
Unlike the scattered camps and small villages usually associated with mobile steppe communities, Semiyarka was an early form of city — complete with rectilinear earthworks, enclosed household compounds and a central monumental building possibly used for rituals or governance. Even more striking is its likely industrial zone dedicated to copper and tin bronze production on a scale previously unseen in this region. Excavations and geophysical surveys revealed crucibles, slag, and tin bronze artefacts, providing the first firm evidence that steppe metallurgists operated complex production systems rather than small-scale workshops.
The site’s strategic location — on a promontory controlling movement along the Irtysh River valley — suggests Semiyarka was not only a production hub but also a centre of exchange and regional power. Its position near major copper and tin deposits in the Altai Mountains may have made it a key node in the vast Bronze Age metal networks linking Central Asia with the rest of the continent.
The international investigation was led by Dr Viktor Merz and Dr Ilya Merz of the Joint Research Centre for Archaeological Studies at Toraighyrov University (Pavlodar, Kazakhstan), Dr Miljana Radivojević of the UCL Institute of Archaeology and Professor Dan Lawrence of Durham University. The team’s findings, now published in the journal Antiquity, combine cutting-edge methods to reconstruct the social and technological landscape of Bronze Age Kazakhstan.
“Semiyarka transforms our understanding of steppe societies,” says Dr Radivojević. “It demonstrates that mobile communities were capable of building and sustaining permanent, well-organised settlements centred on large-scale metallurgical production — including the elusive manufacture of tin bronze, a cornerstone of Eurasia’s Bronze Age economy that has long remained absent from the archaeological record.”
“The scale and structure of Semiyarka are unlike anything else we’ve seen in the steppe zone”, adds Professor Lawrence. “The rectilinear compounds and the potentially monumental building show that Bronze Age communities here were developing sophisticated, planned settlements similar to those of their contemporaries in more traditionally ‘urban’ parts of the ancient world.”
Reflecting on the long-term research at the site, Dr Merz said: “I have been surveying Semiyarka for many years, but this collaboration has truly elevated our understanding of the site. Working with colleagues from UCL and Durham has brought new methods and perspectives, and I look forward to what the next phase of excavation will reveal now that we can draw on their specialist expertise in archaeometallurgy and landscape archaeology.”
For now, the city of Semiyarka stands as a powerful reminder that the open grasslands of Central Asia once harboured urban ingenuity equal to that of any ancient civilisation — a Bronze Age city of the steppe, rising proudly above the Irtysh valley.