A group of Russian scientists who arrived in Kyrgyzstan as part of an expedition under the auspices of the Russian Geographical Society to study a sunken settlement in Issyk-Kul Lake used underwater drones to carry out their work. The head of the expedition, Maxim Menshikov, an employee of the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told journalists.
The researchers are also using the equipment to create detailed underwater site maps, which is far more cost-effective than traditional diver-based exploration.
«We want to develop methods that allow us to study the monument before we start excavating it. This forces us to learn how to come up with methods that allow us to first extract as much information as possible from the monument without destroying it through excavation. We are currently working on this. And one of the stages under the auspices of the Russian Geographical Society is a very interesting project. In collaboration with technical experts from Moscow and St. Petersburg, we are deploying underwater robots to accelerate the research process,» the head of the expedition added.
The Russian expedition also includes dendrochronologists, who study tree rings to obtain precise dating information. «This is crucial for archaeology, because dendrochronology is one of the most accurate dating methods. We can determine the exact year a tree died and, through its rings, calculate when a structure was built,» Menshikov noted.
Paleoseismologists also came to Issyk-Kul region.
«In this region, studying archaeology without paleoseismologists is not so interesting, because as an archaeologist, for example, I am primarily interested in the interaction between the landscape and humans. We are now sitting not far from a flooded town, an archaeological monument that is under water. It was destroyed, submerged as a result of seismic activity, some kind of seismic catastrophe,» the scientist said.
The flooded settlement, which existed in the 10th-13th centuries, is located at a depth of about 5 meters in the area of Toru-Aigyr village, about 1 kilometer from the shoreline. It is about 5 kilometers long and 1 kilometer wide. An expedition dedicated to the anniversary of Petr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky arrived in Issyk-Kul region to study the causes of destruction of this ancient town.
