Archaeologists have discovered the remains of two medieval cities in Uzbekistan's southeastern mountains, perched above the ancient Silk Road trade route. The discovery, achieved using drone-based lidar technology, reveals previously unknown details about high-altitude urban life in Central Asia, National Geographic reported.

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.

In the mountains of Uzbekistan, archaeologists aided by laser-based remote-sensing technology have identified two lost cities that thrived along the

Archeologists have uncovered stunning details of two long-lost medieval cities that once thrived along the ancient Silk Road in Central Asia.

Archaeologists have mapped two lost cities of the Silk Road in Uzbekistan using drones and LiDAR. The fabled cities had lain buried under mountain pastures for centuries. Light detection and ranging technology (LiDAR) uses laser pulses to detect structures hidden beneath vegetation.

Archaeologists have mapped two lost Silk Road cities in the mountains of Uzbekistan that were inexplicably abandoned hundreds of years ago.

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

The first use of drone-based lidar in Central Asia revealed details of two newly discovered trade cities in the mountains of Uzbekistan.

Scientists were surprised to find a medieval metropolis atop mountains, providing new insights into life along the ancient trade route. “This changes everything we thought we knew.”