Preservation of Neolithic sites in Central Fergana: results of archaeological survey 2022

Several dozens of archeological sites with Early Neolithic attribution are known in Central Fergana from the mid-20th century. After the 1980s, archaeological study of Neolithic sites was suspended, and information on the location of many sites was lost. Until recently, the Neolithic of the Fergana Valley remained a blank spot in the issue of the transition to producing economy. However, the research results obtained in 2021 suggest that there was a change in the economic basis of the ancient man, i.e. the transition from hunting and gathering to producing economy in the Early Neolithic. This fact updates the study of the Neolithic complexes from Central Fergana. The present article provides the results of the archaeological survey carried out in 2022 as a part of the work of the Russian-Uzbek expedition in order to clarify the location of the Neolithic sites in Central Fergana and perform sampling for interdisciplinary research at the modern methodology level. Promising areas for the field survey were determined by analyzing old maps showing sites location and a topographic map of the region in the QGIS software. Based on the obtained data, the area about 300 km2 of the Central Fergana sands was surveyed. As a result, it was found that all previously known Neolithic locations had been lost, since all of this territory is now being used for agriculture andfishing development. Moreover, two new locations were identified: Shorkul and Uluknar. Based on typological characteristics, we can date Shorkul back to the Neolithic period, while Uluknar can be attributed to the Upper Paleolithic to Neolithic period.