The discovery was made by researchers from the Russian Academy of Sciences, who located the remains of the settlement in Lake Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan, which ranks as the eighth deepest lake in the world.
The lake sits in the western Tianshan Mountains and once served as an important stopping point along the ancient Silk Road, a major trade route used by travelers moving between Europe and the East.
Valery Kolchenko, the expedition leader and researcher at the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic, explained that their early findings suggest the settlement functioned as a city or possibly a “major trading hub.”
A spokesperson for the Russian Geographical Society added: “All this confirms an ancient city really once stood here.”
According to Heritage Daily, the second zone revealed stone structures, wooden beams, and a Muslim necropolis, giving researchers deeper insight into the area’s cultural past.
The third zone pointed to signs of expansion, including another burial ground, while the fourth contained round and rectangular mudbrick structures, hinting at a larger and more organized settlement than previously believed.
Lake Issyk Kul has no natural outflow, although some researchers believe it may be connected underground to a nearby river. Its rising water levels over centuries could help explain why so much of the city now lies submerged.
The dramatic changes in water height since medieval times might also point toward environmental shifts that contributed to the site’s disappearance.
In this case, they suspect a powerful earthquake may have been responsible for swallowing the settlement now found beneath Lake Issyk Kul.
“According to our assessment, at the time of the disaster, the residents had already left the settlement,” said Kolchenko.
It appears that after the earthquake, surviving residents gradually shifted their homes toward the lakeshore, where several small villages still exist today. These communities likely formed as people sought safer ground after the destruction.
