The new research could change history's understanding of the sprawling trade network that connected Europe and the Middle East to East Asia

The discovery suggests that trade routes along the Silk Road were far more complex than previously understood.

On the Silk Road, these lost twin cities may have sustained themselves in a foreboding landscape with metallurgy and commerce

Archaeologists have found the remains of two medieval cities in the grassy mountains of eastern Uzbekistan, a discovery that could shift our understanding of the fabled Silk Road. Known for the exchange of goods and ideas between the East and West,

In the mountains of Uzbekistan, archaeologists aided by laser-based remote-sensing technology have identified two lost cities that thrived along the fabled Silk Road trade route from the 6th to 11th centuries AD - the bigger one a center for the metal industry and the other reflecting early Islamic influence.