Traditional Techniques, Resources Exploitation and Archaeological Record: an Ethnographical Study from the Oasis of Samarkand (Uzbekistan)

The paper provides some consideration on the useful combination of archaeological data and ethnographical observation in the oasis of Samarkand (Uzbekistan). Attention will be focused on two of the most typical aspects of daily life in the territory surrounding the city, water management and building techniques, in the attempt to better understand the archaeological pattern and process throughout the ethnographical comparison. The data collected will be analyzed at a different scale, from the regional extension to the reality of the small village of Naizatepa compared with the data available from the close excavation in the Early Middle Age fortress of Kafir Kala.