Tureng Tepe ( fa, تورنگ تپه, "Hill of the Pheasants"; alternatively spelled in English as Turang Tappe/Tape/Tappa/Tappeh) is a

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 ...

and

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 ...

archaeological site in northeastern

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 ...

, in the Gorgan plain, approximately 17 km northeast of the town of

Gorgan Gorgan ( fa, گرگان ; also romanized as ''Gorgān'', ''Gurgān'', and ''Gurgan''), formerly Esterabad ( ; also romanized as ''Astarābād'', ''Asterabad'', and ''Esterābād''), is the capital city of Golestan Province, Iran. It lies appro ...

. Nearby is a village of Turang Tappeh.

Description

Tureng Tepe consists of a group of mounds interspersed with ponds and water courses. The whole archaeological pattern is about 800 – 900 m in diameter. Most of the mounds rise between 11 and 15 m above the level of the surrounding plan, but the steep central mound, marked A on the Wulsin's plan, is over 30 m high and dominated the entire site. The oldest remains on the site date to the

and

periods. The Bronze Age settlement portion of the site dates from approximately 3100-2900 BC through 1900 BC.Moreau, Kathy
Tureng Tepe, Iran expedition records (finding aid)
(University of Pennsylvania, Penn Museum Archives, 2010), Retrieved July 19, 2010 In 1841, some material (including gold vessels) from the site was sent to the Shah (

Mohammad Shah Qajar Mohammad Shah (; born Mohammad Mirza; 5 January 1808 – 5 September 1848) was the third Qajar dynasty, Qajar ''shah'' of Qajar Iran, Iran from 1834 to 1848, having succeeded his grandfather Fath-Ali Shah Qajar, Fath-Ali Shah. From a young age, M ...

), and examined by Clement Augustus (C.A.) de Bode, piquing initial modern interest in the site.Rostovtzeff, M
The Sumerian Treasure of Astrabad
''in The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology'', Vol. 6, No. 1 (Jan., 1920), pp. 4–27 The first modern excavations were done by Frederick Wulsin in 1931, sponsored by the Atkins Museum of Fine Arts. Grey ware pottery from the site was found and studied. In the mid-20th century, the site (a hill) had a height of approximately 30m. In 1959, Jean Deshayes (1924–1979) rediscovered the site, and regular excavations began soon after until 1979.Leriche, Pierre
Fouilles de Tureng Tepe I (Review)
''Syria'', 1994, vol. 71, n° 1, pp. 239–242.

Figurines

The figurines of Tureng Tepe have long been recognized as quite remarkable. They include both

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, a ...

and stone figurines.Kyle Olson (2012)
The Figurines of Tureng Tepe: Ceramic Bodies and Social Life at a Bronze Age site in northeastern Iran.
academia.edu As far as the stone figurines, there are many similarities between Tureng and the nearby sites of

Shah Tepe Shah Tepe is a prehistoric archaeological site located in the Gorgan plain of Northeastern Iran, about 13 km north – northwest from the city of Gurgan and 20 km east of the Caspian Sea. Topographically, it is an oval mound with a longi ...

, Tepe Hissār, and Gohar Tappeh. Yet the terracotta figurines of Tureng Tepe are unparalleled at any other nearby site. These baked clay figurines find their parallels with sites further away, in

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 ...

and the

Indus valley The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

. Some parallels as far as Mesopotamia have been suggested. Based on the patterns that emerge from various excavated artefacts, it is clear that Tureng Tepe is a site of special importance in its immediate region.

Chronology

Neolithic and Chalcolithic

*Tureng IA (Neolithic period - these layers are assumed to lie below the water table. From this horizon occur

Djeitun 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 ...

-like sherds, incorporated in bricks made in later periods) *Tureng IB (Late Neolithic period - again presumably below the water table) *Tureng IIA (Early Chalcolithic period)

Bronze Age

*Tureng IIB (ca. 3100–2600 BC) *Tureng III A / B (ca. 2600–2100 BC). To this period belongs an enormous, mud-bricks high terrace, constructed in the center of the settlement and representing perhaps the earliest example of monumental architecture in this region. *Tureng III C (about 2100 -? BC)

Iron Age

*Tureng IV A (Iron Age, possibly 7th century BC) *Tureng IV B Iron Age, possibly 6th century BC) *Tureng VA (2nd century BC)

Historical time

*Tureng VB (1st century BC) *Tureng VC / D (1st–2nd century AD) *Tureng VI A Sasanian empire(3rd–5th century AD) *Tureng VI B end of the Sasanian empire (possibly 6th - 7th centuries) *Tureng VII A / B Islamic occupation at the top of Mound A(10th–11th century AD) *Tureng VIII some Islamic remains located in the south-west part of the site (possibly 13th century AD) During the Bronze Age, Tureng Tepe was likely a thriving settlement.

References

Additional sources

* * Deshayes, J., 1968 �
Tureng Tepe and the Plain of Gorgan in the Bronze Age
''Archaeologia'', I(1), Paris. * ''Fouilles de Tureng Tepe'' (1987) () * Wulsin, F.R., 1932 – Excavation at Tureng Tepe, near Asterabad. Supplement to the Bull. American Inst. Persian Art and Archaeology, New York

External links

Turang Tepe, View of the Mound, From an Altitude of 1,740 M on May 12, 1937 - Oriental InstituteReport on similar finds at the nearby Bazgir Tepe - Tehran Times 2011
{{Authority control Tells (archaeology) Archaeological sites in Iran History of Golestan Province Buildings and structures in Golestan Province Neolithic sites of Asia Prehistoric Iran