Abstract
Kugitang foothills in southern Uzbekistan is formed by undulating steppe that lies in altitudes of 800-1000 m ASL. Today, it is used mainly for grazing of small cattle, less for agriculture.
In Iast two years, researches of the Czech-Uzbek team have discovered evidence of intensive settlement in the transition from the LBA to EIA (Yaz I period). The current state of research suggests that subsistence strategy combined seasonal grazing and irrigation agriculture.
Ethnographic analogies indicate that even nowadays some parts of the steppes are cultivated occasionally, if the precipitation allows. However, it is possible that different climate before 3000-3500 years ago gave farmers a lot more opportunities than today.
Our research is aimed not only at understanding of the structure of fortified settlements of that period (Burgut Kurgan, Kayrit Tepa), whose residents probably did not use metal, but also on the relationship of the Yaz people to the surrounding environment, determined by providing food and other basic resources (especially water), but also religious conceptions, including early Zoroastrianism.