Medieval Cities in the Eurasian Steppe

The Eurasian steppe is the iconic territory of mobile populations. However, through much of recorded history the region has also seen the development of a long term tradition of immobile urban inhabitation that has been an integral part of its mobile societies. Broadly, this session will address historical archaeology in Asia, the malleability of ecological and economic frontiers, hybridity and adaptation, urban settlement and political landscapes. Specifically, we will offer detailed, data rich challenges to the long held dichotomy between mobile and immobile populations and the asymmetric and hidebound models of relations between them. Presenters will discuss topics including urban forms and styles of the Eurasian steppes, networks of interaction and exchange, and communities linking immobile cities to mobile agents, the biographies of individuals living in and managing polities and economies, and the dynamics of political landscapes within and around urban centers. This symposium will be not only valuable to specialists, but also present challenges and novel approaches - methodological and theoretical - to the archaeology of borderlands and unsung urban settings worldwide.