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 sout ...
, 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
Viktor Ivanovich Sarianidi or Victor Sarigiannides (russian: Ви́ктор Ива́нович Сариани́ди; el, Βίκτωρ Σαρηγιαννίδης; September 23, 1929 – December 22, 2013) was a Soviet archaeologist. He discovered ...
, 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
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.
Chronology
It is believed that
Anau Anau may refer to:
* Anau, Bora Bora, commune in Bora Bora
* Anau, Turkmenistan
Anau (also spelled Annau, tk, Änew) is a city in Turkmenistan. Until 20 December 2022 it was the capital of Ahal Province. It is situated 8 km southeast of ...
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
(, 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 Integrati ...
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
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 ...
is characterized by the incursion of nomadic pastoralists from the
Alekseyevka culture
The Andronovo culture (russian: Андроновская культура, translit=Andronovskaya kul'tura) is a collection of similar local Late Bronze Age cultures that flourished 2000–1450 BC,Grigoriev, Stanislav, (2021)"Andronovo ...
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)"Format ...
.
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
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 ...
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