This article discusses archeological research as an important source (on the example of some researchers of the twentieth century) in the study of traditional economic activities of the Uzbek people. Historical analysis has shown that some of the scientific works of that period were dominated by the research of historical archeology of the former Soviet period and the influence of history on the idea that the economy of the ancient peoples of Central Asia, especially the Uzbeks, was formed mainly nomadic. This is because the diversity of views and sometimes unscientific notions on the way of life of the peoples of Central Asia, which still persist in science, are sometimes linked to the fact that the economy of the Uzbek people has long been associated with the territories inhabited and now occupied by oases and valleys.