Jeitun (Djeitun) is an archaeological site of the

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 p ...

period in southern

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 ...

, about 30 kilometers north of

Ashgabat Ashgabat or Asgabat ( tk, Aşgabat, ; fa, عشق‌آباد, translit='Ešqābād, formerly named Poltoratsk ( rus, Полтора́цк, p=pəltɐˈratsk) between 1919 and 1927), is the capital and the largest city of Turkmenistan. It lie ...

in the Kopet-Dag mountain range. The settlement was occupied from about 7200 to 4500 BC possibly with short interruptions. Jeitun has given its name to the whole Neolithic period in the foothills of the Kopet Dag.

Excavations

Jeitun was discovered by Alexander Marushchenko and has been excavated since the 1950s by Boris Kuftin and Mikhail Masson. The site covers an area of about 5,000 square meters. It consists of free-standing houses of a uniform ground plan. The houses were rectangular and had a large fireplace on one side and a niche facing it as well as adjacent yard areas. The floors were covered with lime plaster. The buildings were made of sun-dried cylindrical clay blocks about 70 cm long and 20 cm thick. The clay was mixed with finely chopped straw. There were about 30 houses that could have accommodated about 150–200 persons.Harris, 1997, pp. 29–30 Clay figurines found in

Mehrgarh Mehrgarh (; ur, ) is a Neolithic archaeological site (dated ) situated on the Kacchi Plain of Balochistan in Pakistan. It is located near the Bolan Pass, to the west of the Indus River and between the modern-day Pakistani cities of Quetta, ...

(Pakistan), an important precursor to the Indus Valley civilization, resemble those discovered at Teppe Zagheh, and at Jeitun.

Agriculture

The people of the Jeitun culture were growing

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...

and two sorts of

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

, which were harvested with wooden or bone knives or sickles with stone blades. Stone handmills and other stone tools were found. The site seems to show the oldest evidence of arable farming in Central Asia. Sheep and goats were already domesticated by the villagers, but they also hunted to supplement their diet. The results of the research by David R. Harris show that, in this region, there were none of the wild forms of einkorn or

that could have been used for domestication, so these were brought from elsewhere already domesticated. The same applies to sheep. The wild goat Capra aegagrus, on the other hand, was widespread in Central Asia and could, therefore, have been domesticated in the area. Various types of the earliest Jeitun artefacts, such as clay figurines, decorated ceramics, and small stone axes, show similarities with those of the early agricultural Neolithic sites in the

Zagros mountains The Zagros Mountains ( ar, جبال زاغروس, translit=Jibal Zaghrus; fa, کوه‌های زاگرس, Kuh hā-ye Zāgros; ku, چیاکانی زاگرۆس, translit=Çiyakani Zagros; Turkish: ''Zagros Dağları''; Luri: ''Kuh hā-ye Zāgr ...

, such as Jarmo (Iraq). This may indicate the movements of the Neolithic people from the Levant to Central Asia, via the Zagros mountains. It is possible that the later Jeitun influence expanded to the south, across the Kopet Dag mountains to Kermanshah Province and Luristan, to the sites such as Tepe Guran, Tepe Sarab, and

Ganj Dareh Ganj Dareh ( Persian: تپه گنج دره; "Treasure Valley" in Persian,Smith, Philip E.LArchitectural Innovation and Experimentation at Ganj Dareh, Iran '' World Archaeology'', Vol. 21, No. 3 (February, 1990), pp. 323-335 or "Treasure Valle ...

Jeitun culture

Jeitun culture may have begun prior to 7000 BC, judging by the age of Sang-i Chakmak, the earliest settlement where such artefacts are found. In the same area of the

Gorgan Plain The Gorgan Plain, or Dasht-e Gorgan ( fa, دشت گرگان), is situated in northeastern Iran in Golestan Province. It extends from the lower slopes of the Alborz and Kopet Dag mountain ranges to the steppes of Turkmenistan. The River Gorgan fl ...

, other related sites are

Yarim Tepe (Iran) Yarim Tepe is a Neolithic settlement in the eastern Gorgan plain, Golestan Province. It is located near Gonbad-e Kavus. This ancient settlement played a big role in establishing the cultural chronology of the neolithic period in Central Asia. ...

, and

Tureng Tepe Tureng Tepe ( fa, تورنگ تپه, "Hill of the Pheasants"; alternatively spelled in English as Turang Tappe/Tape/Tappa/Tappeh) is a Neolithic and Chalcolithic archaeological site in northeastern Iran, in the Gorgan plain, approximately 17 ...

.Jack Cassin (2000)
A Brief Outline to the Archaeological Pre-History of Turkmenistan.
weavingartmuseum.org There are about twenty archaeological sites attributed to the Jeitun culture, and they are found on both sides of the Kopet Dag mountains. They are especially common in the south-west Turkestani foothills of the mountains. The sites extend west as far as Shahrud, Iran, and also east to the Tedjen river that flows north from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. Two other early Jeitun sites Chopan and Togolok are located nearby.Fredrik T. Hiebert, Kakamurad Kurbansakhatov
A Central Asian Village at the Dawn of Civilization: Excavations at Anau, Turkmenistan.
University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011, p15

Monjukli Depe Monjukli Depe is an ancient settlement in south Turkmenistan, at the northern edge of the Kopet Dag mountains. Excavations reveal occupation from the late Neolithic period, starting about 6200 BC, to the early Chalcolithic period. The earliest lay ...

is another site where Jeitun culture artifacts have been discovered. It is quite important for establishing the regional chronology. Jeitun period of Turkmenistan was followed by 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 ...

References

Bibliography

* David R. Harris: ''Jeitun and the transition to agriculture in Central Asia''. In:'' Archaeology International 1'', 1997, S. 28–31, * V. Sarianidi: ''Food-producing and other Neolithic communities in Khorasan and Transoxania: eastern Iran, Soviet Central Asia and Afghanistan''. In: A. H. Dani, V. M. Masson (Hrsg.): ''History of civilizations of Central Asia'', Bd. 1. 1992, S. 109–126.

External links

Monjukli Depe (Turkmenistan)
with area map during Neolithic *N.S. Byashimova
Turkmenistan’s studio Pottery: Neolithic, eneolithic, and bronze ages.
unesco.org *Jack Cassin (2000)

weavingartmuseum.org {{coord, 38.18784839, 58.34913633, display=title Tells (archaeology) Neolithic sites of Asia Archaeological sites in Turkmenistan