Divers find medieval settlement at 1–4 m depth in Kyrgyzstan's Lake Issyk-Kul

Divers have found the remains of a medieval settlement on the bottom of Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan, sozcu.com.tr reports. The traces lie at a depth of 1 to 4 metres. Brick walls, wooden beams, kilns and ceramic fragments were recorded in four separate areas, which were mapped sozcu.com.trsozcu.com.trsozcu.com.trOpen source ↗.

What was found on the lakebed

The fieldwork was carried out in 2023–2024. Besides the building remains, researchers recovered animal bones and pieces of slag left over from metalworking. According to the report, these finds point to production and trade activity at the site.

A Muslim cemetery dated to the 13th and 14th centuries was uncovered near the settlement. The dead were buried facing Mecca, in the direction of the qibla. The human bones made it possible to reconstruct the faces of two individuals.

Silk Road location and the earthquake hypothesis

The area around Issyk-Kul has hosted important caravan routes throughout history. The route from the Chu Valley over the Bedel Pass to China was used as one of the links of the Silk Road sozcu.com.trsozcu.com.trsozcu.com.trOpen source ↗. Archaeologist Valeriy Kolchenko said the underwater settlement could have been a city or a large trading centre on this network.

Researchers are also considering why the settlement ended up underwater. Specialists point to the intense seismic activity around the Tian Shan mountains. In their assessment, a major earthquake in the 15th century may have changed the shoreline and caused the flooding of the settlement.

It was also noted that the site may have been abandoned before the disaster. The area is popularly called a second "Atlantis". The source does not report the size of the settlement or the number of burials found.