Earthquake-Induced Deformations in the Zoroastrian Temple of Kurgantepa, Samarkand Region

Abstract

Kurgantepa is a multilayered ancient settlement lying in the Urgut Area of the Samarkand Region. It consists of ruins of the center of a rustak (rural district) in the Sogd during early medieval times. The settlement is identified to be the same as the center of rustak Sanjarfagn. It was shown that the population center which was formerly in the territory of the modern Kurgantepa hill is the classic threefold structure of a medieval city: the ark (the citadel), shakhristan (the inner city), and rabad (the suburbs). The archeological excavations which were carried out there in 2022–2024 revealed architectural remains interpreted as a Zoroastrian temple. Its monumental structure, the presence of columns, decorated walls, and the altar, as well as the ritual orientation of internal furnishings, all point to a sacral destination of the building. One of the more interesting features in the temple consists in traces of destruction whose morphology indicates a strong seismic excitation. The study of these deformations, including failures and displacements of fragments of structural elements and the collapses of arch systems, provide data from which to reconstruct the parameters of a possible mediaeval earthquake (local seismic intensity and the direction to the epicentral zone), as well as to expand our knowledge of the region’s earthquake history.