Despite being almost 4000m above sea level, cereal crops have been grown in the Ngari Prefecture on the Tibetan Plateau for thousands of years. Where and when domestic crop species adapted to high-altitude growing conditions is a matter of ongoing debate. Here, the authors present a new radiocarbon date from the Gepa serul cemetery, providing the earliest evidence of naked six-rowed barley in Tibet (c. 3500 BP). Evaluating the available evidence for barley cultivation and interregional connections in central Asia at this time, two hypotheses are considered—a generational advance with farmers migrating up river valleys or rapid, long-distance trade through mountain corridors.

Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) represents a diverse region facing complex healthcare challenges, including resource constraints, fragmented systems, and limited access to evidence-based decision-making tools. Health technology assessment (HTA) offers a critical framework for addressing these issues by informing efficient allocation of healthcare resources. In April 2024, HTA International (HTAi) convened a policy dialogue in Astana, Kazakhstan, bringing together stakeholders from 12 EECA countries and international experts to discuss HTA advancement in the region. The dialogue highlighted systemic barriers, including political instability, capacity shortages, and fragmented data sources while exploring successful HTA implementation models in some countries. Participants emphasized the importance of political commitment, institutional frameworks, and capacity building, alongside fostering stakeholder collaboration. International organizations such as HTAi and WHO were recognized as vital enablers for technical support and knowledge sharing. Key outcomes included actionable recommendations: strengthening political advocacy, developing legal and institutional frameworks, investing in workforce development, and enhancing multistakeholder engagement. The dialogue underscored HTAi’s role in catalyzing regional collaboration, providing platforms for discussion, and offering resources for capacity building. Future initiatives will focus on addressing structural weaknesses, promoting transparency, and embedding HTA into national healthcare systems to ensure equitable and evidence-based decisions. The findings reinforce the potential of HTA to enhance healthcare policy and planning in EECA, fostering resilient systems that better meet population health needs despite ongoing challenges.

Numerous studies have been conducted to comprehend the economic importance of market participation for producers. However, a significant gap remains, particularly in Central Asia. This study assesses market participation drivers for Kyrgyzstan’s milk producers using the Life in Kyrgyzstan dataset, encompassing a comprehensive nationwide farm-level survey. Findings reveal that household assets boost market entry and sales volume, whereas distance from markets discourages participation but can increase sales for active sellers, reflecting transportation cost strategies. The insights inform policy interventions benefiting rural small-scale milk producers in Central Asian countries that share similar cultural backgrounds.

The Chengba site is the only city site dated from the late Warring States Period in eastern Sichuan Province, China. New discoveries of artefacts and structures at the site enable exploration of the regional role and management of counties that were established at this time by the central government.

Stratified Middle and Upper Palaeolithic sites in Central Asia are rare. The recently discovered Soii Havzak rockshelter, in the Zeravshan Valley in northern Tajikistan, is a stratified site that contains several phases of Palaeolithic occupation rich in lithic, faunal and charcoal remains that help establish chronology of the region.

The study aimed to assess the heterogeneity in the distribution of disease awareness, attitudes, and practices related to cystic echinococcosis (CE) in different subgroups and inform health authorities regionally and globally for future evidence-based tailored prevention practices in the region. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 242 participants from Kyrgyz Republic (KR), Issyk-Kul oblast, and utilized survey data to analyse demographics, household information, echinococcosis-related practices, and knowledge. Participants in high-risk environments (HRE) and engaging in high-risk behaviours (HRB) linked to CE contracting were identified. Out of 242 participants, 39% lived in HRE, with 22% engaging in HRB of contracting CE. 13% lived in HRE and engaged in HRB. Only 6% followed all preventive measures, while 56% followed some. 97.5% of participants had heard about CE, but only 6% identified all transmission routes, and 63.4% were unaware of dog contact as a route. Education reduced the odds of being in the highest risk group (HRE&HRB) (OR 0.5, 95% CI 0.23–0.80). The study's findings are alarming, emphasizing factors contributing to regional endemicity. We anticipated a similar pattern in the neighbouring countries, given the shared nomadic customs and historical parallels. Examination of the heterogeneity of disease awareness and practices allows tailored prevention strategies. Urgent prevention programmes focusing on echinococcosis awareness in the KR are crucial to addressing challenges posed by nomadic habits.

Rock art can be useful as a factor in reclaiming Indigenous identities. One example of this phenomenon is work by contemporary artists who explore and integrate rock art in their creations. The author considers how and why a selection of artists in Siberia/Central Asia and Canada use these ancient images.

Sixteen species and two varieties of lichenicolous fungi are reported from Rhizoplaca s. lat. Four species and one variety are described as new to science: Caeruleoconidia ahtii Zhurb. (on Rhizoplaca s. str.), with hyaline to pale greyish turquoise, comparatively large conidia; Cercidospora mongolica Zhurb. & Cl. Roux (on Rhizoplaca s. str.), with a reddish brown (above) to pale brownish grey to colourless (below) exciple, mostly 4-spored asci, and (0‒)1(‒2)-septate ascospores, mostly 23‒28.5 μm long; C. tyanshanica Zhurb. & Cl. Roux (on Protoparmeliopsis and Rhizoplaca s. str.), with a uniformly grey exciple, mostly 4-spored asci, and (0‒)1(‒2)-septate ascospores, mostly 25.5‒31.5 μm long; Stigmidium pseudosquamariae Zhurb. (on Protoparmeliopsis), inducing brown cerebriform galls, with consistently immersed ascomata and well-developed pseudoparaphyses of type b sensu Roux & Triebel (1994); and Arthonia clemens var. peltatae Zhurb. (on Protoparmeliopsis), with a brown epihymenium without grey shade. An unidentified species of Leptosphaeria growing on Protoparmeliopsis peltata, and Lichenostigma cf. chlaroterae growing on P. peltata and Rhizoplaca chrysoleuca are briefly characterized. Arthonia clemens is newly reported for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in Russia; Cercidospora melanophthalmae is new to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia; Didymocyrtis rhizoplacae is new to Russia; Lichenoconium lecanorae and Muellerella erratica are new to Kyrgyzstan; Stigmidium squamariae s. lat. is new to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. Didymocyrtis rhizoplacae is documented for the first time on Rhizoplaca subdiscrepans, and Pyrenidium actinellum s. lat. on Protoparmeliopsis. A key to 36 species of lichenicolous fungi and lichens known to occur on Rhizoplaca s. lat. is provided.

This research paper has been complied by Abhishek Thommandru, Abdumukhtor Rakhmanov, Shokhrukhbek Tillaboev and Varda Mone. It explores the historical trajectories and modern dynamics of Islamic financial law in Central Asia, a region characterised by a rich tapestry of cultural influences and a predominantly Muslim population. The paper traces the evolution of Islamic finance from its roots in Sharia principles, such as the avoidance of riba, gharar, and maysir, to its current sophisticated framework that promotes equity, transparency, and social welfare. The unique blend of traditional practices and modern regulations in Central Asian Islamic financial jurisprudence is examined, along with the factors driving the industry's growth, including increasing awareness, regulatory support, and integration with global markets.

The paper also delves into the key principles underpinning Islamic financial institutions, such as the prohibition of interest, risk-sharing, and asset-backed financing, and discusses the progress made by Central Asian countries in establishing regulatory frameworks, Shariah compliance oversight, and legal infrastructure. The development of Islamic banking practices, capital markets and takaful in the region is also explored, highlighting the availability of Sharia-compliant products and services. However, the challenges of harmonising Islamic and conventional laws, ensuring consistent Shariah interpretation, and establishing effective dispute resolution mechanisms are also addressed.

The economic impact of Islamic finance in promoting financial inclusion, attracting investments, and fostering stability is also analysed, along with the influence of cultural considerations, social welfare, and ethical investing on the acceptance and growth of Islamic finance in Central Asia. Case studies from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan are presented to illustrate successful implementation strategies. The paper concludes by emphasising the potential for Islamic finance to drive sustainable economic development in Central Asia and the need for ongoing research, collaboration, and policy support to navigate the complex dynamics of this evolving field. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the historical trajectories and modern dynamics of Islamic financial law in Central Asia, providing valuable insights for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in this rapidly growing sector.

Grain-cooking traditions in Neolithic China have been characterised as a ‘wet’ cuisine based on the boiling and steaming of sticky varieties of cereal. One of these, broomcorn millet, was one of the earliest Chinese crops to move westward into Central Asia and beyond, into regions where grains were typically prepared by grinding and baking. Here, the authors present the genotypes and reconstructed phenotypes of 13 desiccated broomcorn millet samples from Xinjiang (1700 BC–AD 700). The absence in this area of sticky-starch millet and vessels for boiling and steaming suggests that, as they moved west, East Asian cereal crops were decoupled from traditional cooking practices and were incorporated into local cuisines.

In Central Asia, the Soviet state had destroyed most Islamic institutions by the late 1930s, which gradually alienated millions of Soviet Muslims from the basics of Islamic theology and key Islamic practices of virtue cultivation, including the five daily prayers (namaz), Islamic ethics of dressing (like covering certain parts of the body), and certain lifestyle prescriptions (such as the avoidance of alcohol, gambling, and premarital sex). As a result, mainstream Islam in Central Asia came to revolve around the main Islamic life-cycle rites (i.e., male circumcision, the marriage ceremony, and funeral prayer) and occasional practices of uttering blessings, reciting short Qur’anic verses for the souls of the deceased, and visiting shrines, among others. Although more than thirty years have passed since the fall of the USSR, this non-observant form of Islam remains widespread in the region. Inquiring into the conceptual and affective aspects of Soviet forced secularization in Central Asia, I make two interrelated interventions into secularism studies and the anthropology of Islam. First, I theorize Soviet secularism through attending to the modern state’s aspiration to transcend and transform the particularities of lived traditions, which reveals significant overlaps between communist and liberal modes of statecraft and subject formation. Second, reflecting on a non-observant form of Islam in contemporary Kyrgyzstan, I ask: what remains of a tradition of virtue ethics when its modes of abstract reasoning and virtue cultivation have all but vanished?

This paper examines the historical development and contemporary landscape of Islamic financial law in Central Asia. Rooted in Sharia principles such as avoiding riba (usury), gharar (uncertainty), and maysir (gambling), Islamic finance has evolved into a sophisticated framework that promotes equity, transparency, and social welfare. In Central Asia, a predominantly Muslim region shaped by diverse cultural influences, Islamic financial jurisprudence reflects a unique blend of traditional practices and modern regulations. The growth of Islamic finance in this region is driven by increasing awareness, regulatory support, and integration with global markets. Key principles like the prohibition of interest, risk-sharing, and asset-backed financing underpin the operations of Islamic financial institutions.

Case studies from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan illustrate successful implementation strategies. The paper concludes by emphasizing the potential for Islamic finance to drive sustainable economic development in Central Asia and the need for ongoing research, collaboration, and policy support to navigate the complex dynamics of this evolving field.