Namazga-Tepe or ''Namazga-depe'', is a
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
(
BMAC) archaeological site 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 s ...
, some 100 km east of
Aşgabat
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 lies ...
, near the border to
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 ...
. Excavated by Vadim Mikhailovich Masson,
Viktor Sarianidi, and I. N. Khlopin from the 1950s, the site set the chronology for the Bronze Age sites in Turkmenistan (Namazga III-VI).
Namazga culture was preceded in the area by
Jeitun culture.
Chronology
It is believed that
Anau culture of Turkmenistan considerably precedes the Namazga culture in the area. Namazga I period (c. 4000–3500 BC),
[Vidale, Massimo, (2017)]
Treasures from the Oxus.
p. 9, Table 1. is considered contemporary with Anau IB2 period.
Namazga III (c. 3200-2800) as a village settlement in Late Chalcolithic phase, and Namazga IV (c. 2800–2400 BC) as a proto-urban site, both belong to the Late
Regionalization Era
Several periodisations are employed for the periodisation of the Indus Valley Civilisation. While the Indus Valley Civilisation was divided into Early, Mature, and Late Harappan by archaeologists like Mortimer Wheeler, newer periodisations incl ...
.
Namazga V (c. 2400–2000 BC),
is in the
Integration Era
Several periodisations are employed for the periodisation of the Indus Valley Civilisation. While the Indus Valley Civilisation was divided into Early, Mature, and Late Harappan by archaeologists like Mortimer Wheeler, newer periodisations incl ...
or the period of "urban revolution" following the Anatolian model with little or no irrigation. Namazga-Tepe emerges as the production and probable governmental center, covering some 60 hectares, with
Altyndepe likely a secondary capital. Around 1600 BC, Altyndepe is abandoned, and Namazga-Tepe shrinks to a fraction of its former size.
Namazga VI in the Late Bronze Age (c. 1800–1500 BC),
as part of the
Localization Era is characterized by the incursion of nomadic pastoralists from the
Alekseyevka culture and/or
Srubna culture
The Srubnaya culture (russian: Срубная культура, Srubnaya kul'tura, ua, Зрубна культура, Zrubna kul'tura), also known as Timber-grave culture, was a Late Bronze Age 1850–1450 BC cultureParpola, Asko, (2012)"Forma ...
.
There have also been detailed painted potteries located at this site.
The following table clarifies the chronology of Namazga culture.
See also
*
South Turkmenistan Complex Archaeological Expedition
References
Bibliography
*V. M. Masson and V. I. Sarianidi, ''Central Asia: Turkmenia before the Achaemenids'' (trans. Tringham, 1972); review: Charles C. Kolb, American Anthropologist (1973), 1945-1948.
External links
Altin Tepeentry i
Encyclopaedia Iranica
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Tells (archaeology)
Archaeological sites in Turkmenistan
Former populated places in Turkmenistan
Ahal Region