(CNN) — Upon the open grasslands of what is now Kazakhstan, there once stood a Bronze Age settlement that may have served as a center of exchange and power around 1600 BC.

The settlement — called Semiyarka and nicknamed “The City of Seven Ravines” for its location overlooking a network of valleys — was first discovered in the early 2000s, but it wasn’t until an international group of archaeologists surveyed the area starting in 2018 that its impressive size and potential importance within the Eurasian Steppe came to light. What the team discovered was an expansive area that was once replete with houses, a central monumental building, which may have been used for rituals or governance, and possibly even tin bronze metal production facilities.

Their findings, published Monday in the jo

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