Innovative Approaches in the Preservation Practices of Ancient Fortresses From the Classical Period in the Territory of Ancient Khorezm

Innovative Approaches in the Preservation Practices of Ancient Fortresses From the Classical Period in the Territory of Ancient Khorezm | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Innovative Approaches in the Preservation Practices of Ancient Fortresses From the Classical Period in the Territory of Ancient Khorezm Gavhar Durdieva, Adilbek Zargarov, Nafisa Zargarova This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8944731/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In his seminal work “Monuments of Ancient Peoples,” the great scholar Abu Rayhan al-Biruni noted over a millennium ago that “the Khorezmians built more than 300 villages and cities along both banks of the river, the ruins of which have survived to this day” [ 4 ]. The territory of ancient Khorezm today encompasses northeastern Turkmenistan, the Republic of Karakalpakstan, and the Khorezm region of Uzbekistan. Currently, the 288 architectural monuments scattered across the districts of southern Aral Sea region—particularly in Karakalpakstan—serve as living witnesses to the high level of advancement in architecture and construction in ancient Khorezm. Many of the cities in this oasis predate the Common Era and were built by master builders highly skilled in astronomy, medicine, mathematics, geodesy, urban planning, architecture, and the visual arts. According to the renowned scholar S.P. Tolstov [ 35 ], as early as the first millennium BCE, Khorezm was one of the most advanced and powerful states in the East, where architectural development was firmly rooted in scientific knowledge. The evidence suggests that Khorezm possesses a cultural legacy comparable to that of ancient Greece, Rome, and Mesopotamia. More than 400 historical architectural monuments, crafted by ancient Khorezmian master builders, once existed in Karakalpakstan. Unfortunately, over 60% of these have been lost, with the drying of the Aral Sea significantly accelerating the destruction—twice as fast as in other regions [ 19 ]. Today, many of these rare architectural sites are in urgent need of restoration, as centuries of weathering and environmental changes have led to decay and structural degradation. The importance of preserving and restoring these sites for future generations is immense, with particular emphasis on the implementation of systematic monitoring of their technical conditions. This article presents the results of monitoring and observational studies conducted on three key architectural monuments in Karakalpakstan— Koykirilgan Qala (3rd–4th centuries BCE), Qizil Qala (4th–3rd centuries BCE), and Chilpyk Qala (1st–4th centuries CE)—and explores innovative approaches to their preservation and restoration. Pakhsa clay architectural monument technical condition moisture salinization structural integrity preservation restoration project design Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8944731","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":601854743,"identity":"3cdc29c4-af44-40a6-b773-4d82c7f24e64","order_by":0,"name":"Gavhar Durdieva","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAvElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYHACNiC24eEHkgcekKAlTUayAaglgQQth2wMDgAporTIu58xe/BzzwEe42uHHwJtuZfYQEiL4Zkcc8OeZ3d4zG6nGQC1FBOhpSEtTYLnwDOglgSQlgQitPQ/S5P8c+Awj/Hs9A/EaZGXSD4mzQPUYiCdQ6QtBhKPj0nLHEjjkbidU3AgwSDBmLAt/Yltkm8O2Njzz07f/OFDRYIsYVsOoHIJqQfZQtDQUTAKRsEoGAUADk5CUF1NX3gAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Mamun Academy of Khorezm","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Gavhar","middleName":"","lastName":"Durdieva","suffix":""},{"id":601854744,"identity":"6a608772-5093-4aa1-8df1-cee89d17ccfa","order_by":1,"name":"Adilbek Zargarov","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Mamun Academy of Khorezm","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Adilbek","middleName":"","lastName":"Zargarov","suffix":""},{"id":601854747,"identity":"e7c55cf5-c340-46ba-92e8-b6d27eab7e5f","order_by":2,"name":"Nafisa Zargarova","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Mamun Academy of Khorezm","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nafisa","middleName":"","lastName":"Zargarova","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-02-23 08:38:24","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8944731/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8944731/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":105351851,"identity":"cceeb05b-e5a4-4bb3-9990-b9171853e5da","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-25 05:56:45","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1909583,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscriptwithoutauthordetails23.02.2026.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8944731/v1_covered_c4068a00-a433-474d-89b1-ffdaec8712f5.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eInnovative Approaches in the Preservation Practices of Ancient Fortresses From the Classical Period in the Territory of Ancient Khorezm\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Pakhsa clay, architectural monument, technical condition, moisture, salinization, structural integrity, preservation, restoration, project design","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8944731/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8944731/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eIn his seminal work \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;Monuments of Ancient Peoples,\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e the great scholar Abu Rayhan al-Biruni noted over a millennium ago that \u0026ldquo;the Khorezmians built more than 300 villages and cities along both banks of the river, the ruins of which have survived to this day\u0026rdquo; [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e]. The territory of ancient Khorezm today encompasses northeastern Turkmenistan, the Republic of Karakalpakstan, and the Khorezm region of Uzbekistan. Currently, the 288 architectural monuments scattered across the districts of southern Aral Sea region\u0026mdash;particularly in Karakalpakstan\u0026mdash;serve as living witnesses to the high level of advancement in architecture and construction in ancient Khorezm.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMany of the cities in this oasis predate the Common Era and were built by master builders highly skilled in astronomy, medicine, mathematics, geodesy, urban planning, architecture, and the visual arts. According to the renowned scholar S.P. Tolstov [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e35\u003c/span\u003e], as early as the first millennium BCE, Khorezm was one of the most advanced and powerful states in the East, where architectural development was firmly rooted in scientific knowledge. The evidence suggests that Khorezm possesses a cultural legacy comparable to that of ancient Greece, Rome, and Mesopotamia.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMore than 400 historical architectural monuments, crafted by ancient Khorezmian master builders, once existed in Karakalpakstan. Unfortunately, over 60% of these have been lost, with the drying of the Aral Sea significantly accelerating the destruction\u0026mdash;twice as fast as in other regions [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003e]. Today, many of these rare architectural sites are in urgent need of restoration, as centuries of weathering and environmental changes have led to decay and structural degradation. The importance of preserving and restoring these sites for future generations is immense, with particular emphasis on the implementation of systematic monitoring of their technical conditions.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis article presents the results of monitoring and observational studies conducted on three key architectural monuments in Karakalpakstan\u0026mdash;\u003cem\u003eKoykirilgan Qala\u003c/em\u003e (3rd\u0026ndash;4th centuries BCE), \u003cem\u003eQizil Qala\u003c/em\u003e (4th\u0026ndash;3rd centuries BCE), and \u003cem\u003eChilpyk Qala\u003c/em\u003e (1st\u0026ndash;4th centuries CE)\u0026mdash;and explores innovative approaches to their preservation and restoration.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Innovative Approaches in the Preservation Practices of Ancient Fortresses From the Classical Period in the Territory of Ancient Khorezm","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-03-11 07:00:53","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8944731/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"4ec2cd7d-d617-4905-8b80-9b59e6e7a5d7","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 11th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-03-25T05:56:15+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-03-11 07:00:53","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8944731","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8944731","identity":"rs-8944731","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}