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Monjukli Depe is an ancient settlement in south
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...
, at the northern edge of the
Kopet Dag
The Köpet Dag, Kopet Dagh, or Koppeh Dagh ( tk, Köpetdag; fa, کپهداغ), also known as the Turkmen-Khorasan Mountain Range, is a mountain range on the border between Turkmenistan and Iran that extends about along the border southeast o ...
mountains. Excavations reveal occupation from the late
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
period, starting about 6200 BC, to the early
Chalcolithic
The Copper Age, also called the Chalcolithic (; from grc-gre, χαλκός ''khalkós'', "copper" and ''líthos'', "stone") or (A)eneolithic (from Latin '' aeneus'' "of copper"), is an archaeological period characterized by regular ...
period. The earliest layers belong to the
Jeitun
Jeitun (Djeitun) is an archaeological site of the Neolithic period in southern Turkmenistan, about 30 kilometers north of Ashgabat in the Kopet-Dag mountain range. The settlement was occupied from about 7200 to 4500 BC possibly with short interru ...
culture of Turkmenistan.
The prehistoric settlement lies in an arid
alluvial plain
An alluvial plain is a largely flat landform created by the deposition of sediment over a long period of time by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A floodplain is part of the process, being the sma ...
, which is bordered in the north by the
Karakum Karakum may refer to:
*Karakum Desert, a desert in Central Asia
* ''Karakum'' (film), a 1994 Turkmen film
*Karakum Canal, Turkmenistan
* Karakum District, Turkmenistan
See also
* Karakoram, a large mountain range spanning the borders of India, Pak ...
desert and in the south by the slopes of the Kopet Dag. The mountains also mark today's political border with
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
.
About two kilometers northwest of the site runs the dry bed of Meana river, where the modern village of
Miana, Turkmenistan
Miana is a large village in Ahal Province, Turkmenistan, not far from the Iranian border. The eleventh century Abu Said Meikhene Mausoleum, dedicated to Abū-Sa'īd Abul-Khayr lies to the northwest.
Geography
The village is accessed via a road fr ...
is located.
The large Bronze Age settlement of
Altyn Depe
(, sometimes Altyn Tepe, Turkmen "Golden Hill"), is a Bronze Age ( BMAC) archaeological site in Turkmenistan, near Aşgabat, inhabited first from c. 3200 to 2400 BCE in the Late Regionalization Era, and from c. 2400 to 2000 BCE in the Integratio ...
is located about 2km to the northeast.
Excavations
The first excavations by Aleksandr A. Marushchenko took place in 1959, and were later continued by his colleague O. K. Berdiev. The results of this first investigation were compiled in a preliminary report. In 2010, the potential of the excavation site was recognized by
Susan Pollock and
Reinhard Bernbeck, and this led to five further excavation campaigns (2010-2014) on site.
Chronology
The location is important for establishing the regional chronology, because here the Neolithic layers are followed by the Chalcolithic. However, in 2010, the subsequent excavations have found a long settlement break between the end of the Neolithic settlement (layers XV, 6200-5600 BCE) and the Chalcolithic resettlement (layers IV to I, 4650-4340 BCE). Based on this, the "Meana horizon" was defined here, which appears to be limited regionally to the
Kaka District
Kaka District is a district of Ahal Province, Turkmenistan.
In ancient times the area was a fertile agricultural plain to the north of the Kopet Dag mountain range. A number of important Bronze Age sites exist in the area, such as Ulug Depe
Ulu ...
of Turkmenistan, and precedes the
Anau culture
The Anau culture was an ancient agricultural civilization of Central Asia centred in southern Turkmenistan. It started during the Chalcolithic period around 4000 BC, following the Neolithic Jeitun culture. It is named after its main site of Anau, ...
IA phase.
Chalcolithic settlement
Layers IV to I were excavated over a large area. They contain standardized houses with a square floor plan, and pillars in the middle of rooms.
In the top two layers, an enclosed open space was identified, in which, judging by the animal bones found here, the banquets took place.
In the lowest layer IV, a house with a wall painting was found portraying two persons, also featuring some abstract patterns.
The residents of Monjukli Depes lived from herding and agriculture. Sheep and goats were dominant among the herd animals. Cattle, as well as their skulls, played an important role in the banquets. In so far as the wild animals, remains of gazelles and onagers were found.
Barley and wheat were important in arable farming, with the analyzes potentially indicating simple irrigation.
Very little ceramic was produced in the Chalcolithic Monjukli Depe. On a general level, there are ceramic parallels to the Sialk II / Cheshme Ali horizon of the Iranian highlands.
See also
*
Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex
The Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (short BMAC) or Oxus Civilization, recently dated to c. 2250–1700 BC,Lyonnet, Bertille, and Nadezhda A. Dubova, (2020b)"Questioning the Oxus Civilization or Bactria- Margiana Archaeological Cultu ...
*
South Turkmenistan Complex Archaeological Expedition
The South Turkmenistan Complex Archaeological Expedition (STACE), also called the South Turkmenistan Archaeological Inter-disciplinary Expedition of the Academy of Sciences of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (YuTAKE) was endorsed by the Tur ...
Notes
Literature
* Reinhard Bernbeck, Susan Pollock: ''Scalar Differences: Temporal Rhythms and Spatial Patterns at Monjukli Depe, Southern Turkmenistan''. In: ''Antiquity'' 90 (349), 2016, S. 64–80
doi:10.15184/aqy.2015.197
* Susan Pollock, Reinhard Bernbeck, Brian Beckers,
:de:Norbert Benecke, Jonas Berking, Gabriela Castro Gessner, Jana Eger, Birgül Öğüt: ''Archaeological Work at Monjukli Depe: A Regional Perspective''. In: ''Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran und Turan,'' Band 47, 2018, S. 1–47
* Susan Pollock, Reinhard Bernbeck, Birgül Öğüt (Hrsg.)
Looking Closely. Excavations at Monjukli Depe, Turkmenistan, 2010–2014Sidestone Press, Leiden 2019
* Jana Eger, Corinna Knipper, Norbert Benecke: ''Stable Isotope Evidence for Animal Husbandry Practices at Prehistoric Monjukli Depe, Southern Turkmenistan'', erscheint in: ''Archaeozoology of the Near East XIII. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Symposium on the Archaeozoology of Southwestern Asia and Adjacent Areas, Nicosia''.
* David R. Harris: ''Origins of Agriculture in Western Central Asia: An Environmental-Archaeological Study''. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia 2010
* Fredrik T. Hiebert, ''The Kopet Dag Sequence of Early Villages in Central Asia''. In: ''Paléorient'' 28 (2), 2002, S. 25–41
* Herrmann Müller-Karpe: ''Neolithische Siedlungen der Dzejtun-Kultur in Süd-Turkmenistan.'' C.H. Beck, München 1982
* Raphael Pumpelly: ''Explorations in Turkestan, Expedition of 1904: Prehistoric Civilizations of Anau, Origins, Growth, and Influence of Environment''. Volume 1, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington 1908
External links
Freie Universität Berlin, Institute for Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology
Archaeological sites in Turkmenistan
Neolithic sites of Asia
{{Central Asian history