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Zoroastrian Material Culture and its Socio-Political Function within Early Medieval Societies: An Analysis of Sogdian Cultic Spaces from the Period between 5th to the 8th Century
 | Email: Stefano.Cecatiello.20@ucl.ac.uk |
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Zoroastrian Material Culture and its Socio-Political Function within Early Medieval Societies: An Analysis of Sogdian Cultic Spaces from the Period between 5th to the 8th Century
Located within present-day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, early medieval Sogdiana was inhabited by independent city-states that heavily controlled Silk Road trade. Sogdian communities practiced Zoroastrian beliefs, possessing many dedicated cultic spaces. These spaces represent the best-preserved evidence for early medieval Zoroastrianism and its influence across Eurasia, although their remains have been poorly preserved and disregarded by archaeologists.
My research examines Sogdian cultic spaces to reconstruct manifestations and functions of Zoroastrianism within early medieval societies. Combining important archival data with that from ongoing archaeological projects, I will develop a typology of Sogdian religious environments structured on the application of spatial and material analyses. Spatial analyses will focus on the digitalization of Sogdian religious environments and interpretation of their particular uses. Material studies will focus on the categorisation of the characteristic material culture of Sogdian cultic spaces and on interpretations of its functionalities. To develop a nuanced understanding of Sogdian Zoroastrianism, my analyses will be conducted on a wide range of sites located across different cultural regions of Sogdiana: its more populated areas in the oases of Samarkand and Bukhara; and its periphery in the Qashqadaryo and the Osrushana region.
Education
- BA in Classical Archaeology, King’s College London, 2021
- MA, Archaeology and Heritage of Asia, University College London, 2023
