Neolithization during the 6th millennium BCE in western Central Asia: New evidence from Kaynar Kamar Rockshelter, Hissar Mountains, Southeast Uzbekistan

Abstract

The advent of the Neolithic period in Central Asia was marked by the establishment of the Jeitun culture during the 7th–6th millennium BCE in the northern foothills of the Kopet Dagh Mountains, South Turkmenistan. Unlike this widely recognized notion, Neolithization in the core regions of Central Asia, further to the east, remains to be clarified. Here, we present new data from the Hissar mountain region, close to the eastern end of western Central Asia. The 2015–2019 excavations of the newly discovered rock shelter of Kaynar Kamar, Uzbekistan, yielded a well-dated cultural sequence spanning over ten millennia starting from the beginning of the Holocene for the first time in this part of Central Asia. The archaeological records indicate a significant cultural change in the early 6th millennium BCE, which likely reflects the introduction of the food production economy in tandem with the Neolithization events occurring in the west. This new result supports the hypothesis of a swift dispersal of the Neolithic economy in western Central Asia. Simultaneously, it helps delineate the environmental conditions that hindered further dispersal to the east.