Urban Cultures of Central Asia from the Bronze Age to the Karakhanids

Learnings and conclusions from new archaeological investigations and discoveries

Proceedings of the First International Congress on Central Asian Archaeology held at the University of Bern, 4–6 February 2016

Edited byChristoph Baumer and Mirko Novák

2019

Harrassowitz Verlag · Wiesbaden

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Publication of this book was supported by a grant of the Society for the Exploration of EurAsia, Hergiswil, Switzerland.

Editing: Sabine EcklinTypesetting and Layout: Sabine EcklinProof reading: Chris Murray und Judith AcevedoCover illustration: Winged Lion-demon from Gonur Depe, Turkmenistan, mosaic (ca. 1900 BCE). Drawing: Gabriele Elsen-Novák

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ContentsMap of Central Asia with the main places men oned in this volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

Christoph Baumer and Mirko NovákForeword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Turkmenistan

Lyubov B. KirchoAltyn-DepeThe Forma on of the Earliest Urban Centre in Central Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Nadezhda A. DubovaGonur Depe – City of Kings and Gods, and the Capital of Margush Country (Modern Turkmenistan)Its discovery by Professor Victor Sarianidi and recent fi nds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Chris an Hübner, Mirko Novák, and Sylvia WinkelmannThe Swiss IAW-EurAsia Project on Urban Development and Land Use in Gonur Depe (Turkmenistan)A geo-magne c survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Barbara Cerase , Roberto Arciero, Mariale zia Carra, Antonio Curci, Jacopo De Grossi Mazzorin, Luca Forni, Elise Luneau, Lynne M. Rouse, Robert N. Spengler IIIBronze and Iron Age Urbanisa on in TurkmenistanPreliminary results from the excava on of Togolok 1 on the Murghab alluvial fan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Carlo LippolisParthian NisaLandscape, topography and se lement planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Aydogdy KurbanovSe lement Pa erns during the Sasanian Era in Southern TurkmenistanPreliminary survey results in the Abiverd and Merv regions 2014–2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Uzbekistan

Julio Bendezu-Sarmiento and Johanna LhuillierHabitat and Occupancy during the Bronze Age in Central AsiaRecent work at the sites of Ulug-depe (Turkmenistan) and Dzharkutan (Uzbekistan) . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Johanna LhuillierThe Se lement Pa ern in Central Asia during the Early Iron Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Bruno GenitoThe Uzbek-Italian Excava ons at Kojtepa (Samarkand Area) UzbekistanFirst results and work perspec ves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Nigora D. DvurechenskayaThe Hellenis c Fortress of Uzundara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

vi

Fiona Kidd and Sören StarkUrbanism in An que Sogdiana?A view from the Bukhara oasis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Simone MantelliniUrbanscape vs. Landscape, or Urbanscape as Landscape?A case from ancient Samarkand (Sogdiana) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Andrei V. Omel’chenkoNew Excava ons in the Paikend City-SiteThe Sogdian po ery assemblage of the Hellenis c period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Silvia Pozzi, Sirojiddin Mirzaachmedov, and Munira SultanovaPreliminary Results of Archaeological Inves ga ons at VardānaA focus on the Early Medieval period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Djamaliddin Mirzaachmedov, Silvia Pozzi, Shuxrat Adilov, Munira Sultanova, and Sirojiddin MirzaachmedovVardanzehThe dynamics of se lement on the citadel based on the materials from medieval po ery complexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Konstan n A. Sheyko, Genadiy P. Ivanov, and Djangar Ya. IlyasovArchaeological Research at the Qarshovul Tepa Site, Uzbekistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Farhad Maksudov, Elissa Bullion, Edward R. Henry, Taylor Hermes, Ann Merkle, and Michael D. Frache Nomadic Urbanism at TashbulakA new highland town of the Karakhanids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

Tajikistan/Kyrgyzstan

Michael Shenkar and Sharof KurbanovSanjar-Shah: A Sogdian Town in the Zeravshan ValleySome preliminary results of the recent archaeological inves ga ons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

Sharof KurbanovThe Study of Ceramics from Sanjar-ShahTechnological, cultural and administra ve connec ons with Panjikent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

Pavel B. LurjeThe Early Medieval Martshkat (Hisorak) in Upper Matcha and its Bactrian Connec ons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Asan I. Torgoev, Alexey V. Kulish, Evgeny A. Kiy, and Valery A. KolchenkoThe Buddhist Monastery of Krasnaya Rechka Se lementThe main fi ndings 2010–2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349

Valery A. Kolchenko and Philipp Ro The Ancient Site of Novopokrovskoe 2Excava on 1: Preliminary results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

vii

Kazakhstan

Gian Luca BonoraInner Syr Darya DeltaArchaeological sites during the second half of the 1st millennium BCE: An analysis of the se lement pa ern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387

Karl M. Baipakov†KuiryktobeThe site of ancient Keder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403

Karl M. Baipakov†The Ancient Se lement of Kesken-Kuyuk-Kala in the Eastern Aral Region . . . . . . . . . 415

Saltanat B. EderInterpre ng the Female Figure on a Ceramic Fragment from Taraz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

Compara ve Chronologies of Western and Central Asia (4300 BCE–1258 CE) . . . . . . 445

Comprehensive Index of Toponyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447

List of Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461

8 Foreword

Group photo of the conference participants (© Corina Steiner, IAW, University of Bern).

SGOA

The editors thank the following institutions for their generous support of the conference: The Swiss Acade-my of Humanities and Social Sciences (SAGW); The Swiss Society for Ancient Near Eastern Studies (SGOA); The Schindler Cultural Foundation; The University of Bern and The Society for the Exploration of EurAsia.