Ceramics at the Emergence of the Silk Road: A Case of Village Potters from Southeastern Kazakhstan during the Late Iron Age

Between the fourth century B.C. and second century A.D., changes in climate, culture and commerce converged to extend networks of influence and intensify social stratification in communities situated along the Silk Road. The horse-riding nomads and agro-pastoralists of what is now Southeastern Kazakhstan were important actors in the unfolding of these events. The settlements and kurgan burials of the Saka and Wusun could be found dotting the...