Map, Journal of the Japan Cartographers Association

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Ruins of many medieval cities that were built between the fifth and fourteenth centuries are distributed in the Chu River Basin, Central Asia. These ruins are located along the Silk Road and some sites, Ak-Beshim, Burana, and Krasnaya-Rechka in Kyrgyz Republic, have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. This study tried to superimpose the location of ruins on the geomorphological map （landform classification map） to discuss site characteristics of ruins from the geoarchaeological perspective. We used satellite images and the Digital Elevation Model of the Japanese satellite “DAICHI” （ALOS） to make the geomorphological map, which was created based on the interpretation of landforms. Mapping analysis has revealed that ruins are distributed on alluvial fans and a river terrace, with most being located at the toe parts of fans. We classified the locations of ruins into six categories based on the landform characteristics and evaluated all of them against three criteria: stability of area（strength against risk of natural disaster）; protective quality （strength against attack）; and stability of water management （potential of water resources）. The results show that most ruins are located at the sites that received high or middle evaluations for these three elements. It is recognized that the site selection of medieval cities was strongly influenced by landform. On the other hand, a few ruins are located at sites that received low evaluation against stability of area. It is considered that the sites of these ruins were at risk from hazards but that there were important social factors that led to their construction.

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