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The Relationship Between Archaic Construction Methods in Pottery and Architecture in Central Asia
https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2025.53.2.099-107
Abstract
This study explores the connection between archaic construction methods in pottery in Central Asian, mostly that of tandoors (tonurs), and present-day building technologies associated with the use of unbaked clay (“pakhsa”, “kuloh”, “adobe bricks”). Ethnographic fi eldwork was done in several areas of Central Asia, including the Sughd Region of Tajikistan, the Turkestan Region of Kazakhstan, the Fergana and Samarkand regions of Uzbekistan, and the Batkent Region of Kyrgyzstan. Traditions of constructing tandoors were examined; materials relating to various building technologies using clay were collected and systematized. Two main methods of pakhsa construction were identified—lining up undried clay lumps in layers, or backfilling clay into a mold (“packed techniques”). The first was developed in construction technology using kuloh—dried lumps of clay joined with mortar. The technique of building tandoors from two layers of slabs, with subsequent transformation into a band, and coils connected pairwise during drying, resembles that of pakhsa construction by placing clay lumps in several rows across the width of the wall in strips (“kurses”) laid along the entire length of it. This confirms the common origin of the most archaic construction methods in pottery and construction from clay in architecture.
Keywords
Supporting agencies: This study was carried out under the Project “Study of Pottery of Southern Kazakhstan and Adjacent Regions (Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan): Traditions and Modernity” (AP19678131). We are very grateful to all those who helped us in this study: N.T. Rakhimov and D.J. Farmonova (Khujand State University), G.A. Rakhimova (Isfara Museum), F.J. and M.M. Farmonovs, M. Khafizov (village of Punuk), S.M. Umarov (city of Isfara), U. Sarakhmatov and S. Saifiddinov (village of Vorukh), D. Ishanurov (village of Devashtich), Tajikistan; Z.T. Akkoshkarova (A.K. Margulan Institute of Archaeology), Kazakhstan; U.N. Mavlyanov (Gulistan State University), and N.K. Khakkulov (Samarkand State University), Uzbekistan.
About the Authors
N. Y. Petrova
Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences;
Margulan Institute of Archaeology
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Petrova N.Y., Researcher
Dm. Ulyanova 19, Moscow, 117292; Pr. Dostyk 44, Almaty, 050000, Kazakhstan
N. A. Dubova
Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology,
Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Dubova N.A., Chief Researcher
Leninsky pr. 32a, Moscow, 119334
S. Z. Rakhimzhanova
Margulan Institute of Archaeology
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Rakhimzhanova S.Z., Leading Researcher
Pr. Dostyk 44, Almaty, 050000
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Review
For citations:
Petrova N.Y., Dubova N.A., Rakhimzhanova S.Z. The Relationship Between Archaic Construction Methods in Pottery and Architecture in Central Asia. Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia. 2025;53(2):99-107. https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2025.53.2.099-107
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