| Summary: | Long unrecognized as a cradle of civilization, Central Asia has in recent decades become an exciting frontier of archaeological research. For centuries scholars the world over dismissed its resilient steppe societies--known largely through biased literatures as barbarian--as a thorn in the side of burgeoning Asian and Eurasian civilizations. Today that view has been confronted with a cascade of evidence documenting the rise of nomadic communities, states, and even empires that changed the world by linking together vast tracts of Eurasia, from China to Eastern Europe. Central to these developments are lands encompassing the Altai Mountains, whose punishing climate and unforgiving, rugged landscapes until quite recently severely restricted archaeological inquiry. Birthplace of languages and human cultural and genetic diversity, glacially scoured Altaian slopes, undulating plains, and watered valleys have, as this volume shows, sustained hunting and herding since the Ice Ages. Its polished exposed bedrock panels carry 20,000 years of illustrated history that, combined with the evidence of archaeology, present a fuller picture than can be told by each discipline separately. Merged, these disciplines provide the first integrated historical window into the rich ceremonial and ritual life of prehistoric peoples who enlivened the heart of Eurasia.
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