On the Roads of Medieval Karakum (Turkmenistan)Exploring prosperity and fragility in desert trading networks

by Paul Wordsworth, University College London, and Martina Rugiadi, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (pending confirmation). 

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The relation between the Silk Road and the cities of Merv, Bukhara and Samarkand –major stops along the network –has long been described as symbiotic, but what of the smaller towns and outposts dotted throughout the desert?

Excavations in Dandanakan/Das Rabat in the Karakum region seek to explore these interconnections.