Archaeologists have uncovered Semiyarka, a 3,500-year-old Bronze Age city in the Kazakh Steppe, now considered one of Central Asia’s most significant discoveries in decades. Spanning around 350 acres, Semiyarka — known as the “City of Seven Ravines” — is the largest ancient settlement found in the region and the first known on the steppe to produce bronze on a large scale.

Axar.az informs that the newly published report, authored by researchers from Durham University, University College London, and Kazakhstan’s Toraighyrov University, reveals that Semiyarka was a major industrial hub with an organized metal-producing economy. The findings challenge long-held assumptions that only semi-nomadic groups lived in the area at the time. Evidence suggests it was a permanent settlement, a manufacturing center, and possibly a key regional trading post.

Lead author Miljana Radivojević said the discovery changes the understanding of steppe societies, proving mobile communities could establish stable, large-scale industrial urban centers. Although discovered in the early 2000s, Semiyarka is now being fully examined thanks to renewed collaboration and research leadership from Kazakhstan.