The members of ATES Working Group Four (Science and Technology Exchange Across the Silk Road), Prof. Nyamdag Ganbat from the Institute of International Studies, Mongolian Academy of Sciences and Dr. Wei Chen from the Institute for the History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences attended the international workshop on "Ancient Settlements of Talgar and Kayalyk as Components of the Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor of the Silk Road" in Almaty, Kazakhstan on September 7-8, 2023. This workshop was co-organized by the Esik State Historical and Cultural Reserve Museum and UNESCO. Both of them gave oral presentations in the workshop while introducing the ATES initiative and its activities to experts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Mongolia, Russia, the United States, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, etc.

Talgar and Kayalyk are two historic settlement sites near Almaty, Kazakhstan, dating from the 8th to 14th century AD. Both of them were important parts of the Silk Road stretching from the northern foothills of the Tianshan mountain. Townsites and various relics have been found here, including raw materials for production and artifacts through the long-distance trade along the Silk Road. Participating experts investigated the two sites and discussed topics such as archaeological excavations and artifact research along the Tianshan and Issyk-Kul Lake regions.