Ulug Depe

Ulug Depe is an ancient Bronze Age site in the foothills of the Kopet Dag Mountains in the Karakum Desert of Kaka District (Kaahka) in the Ahal Province of south-eastern Turkmenistan. It covers around 13 hectares and lies on a mound at a height of about 30 meters, displaying the longest stratigraphic sequence of Central Asia, from the Late Neolithic, represented by Jeitun culture, until the pre-Achaemenid period.[1][2][3]

Ulug Depe
Ulug depe (in Turkmen)
Location in Turkmenistan
Coordinates37°9′20.23″N 60°1′46.02″E
History
PeriodsBronze Age
CulturesBMAC

History

The following table, by Olivier Lecomte, brings the chronology for South Central Asia and Ulug-depe settlement:[4]

Period Dates
Neolithic of Jeitun type 6200–5000 BCE
Proto-Chalcolithic (Anau Ia) 5200–4800 BCE
Early-Chalcolithic (Namazga I) 4800–4000 BCE
Middle-Chalcolithic (Namazga II) 4000–3500 BCE
Late-Chalcolithic (Namazga III) 3500–3000 BCE
Early Bronze (Namazga IV) 3000–2500 BCE
Middle Bronze (Namazga V) 2500–2200 BCE
Late Bronze (Namazga VI) 2200–1500 BCE
Late Bronze (Margiana, Gonur phase) 2200–1800 BCE
Late Bronze (Margiana, Togolok phase) 1800–1500 BCE
Early Iron (Yaz I) 1500–1100 BCE
Archaic Dehistan (SW Turkmenistan) 1300–500 BCE
Pre-Achaemenid and Achaemenid (Yaz II-III) 1100–329 BCE

Discoveries

Excavations in the Late Bronze layers also found a "pressure set" for making soma drink. This set, similar to those found in Gonur Depe,

"... consisted of a huge stone mortar and a pestle, a pressing stone with a half-spheric projection in its centre, and next to it a similar one with a half-spheric deepening."[5]

Gonur Depe seems to be the central city on the ancient Oxus civilization, also known as the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex, from about 2000 BCE.[6]

See also

References

  1. Lhuillier, J., (2016)."Ulug-depe and the transition period from Bronze Age to Iron Age in Central Asia: A Tribute to V. I. Sarianidi" Archived 2020-12-23 at the Wayback Machine in Transactions of Margiana Archaeological Expedition Vol. 6, p. 509. (Academia.edu Archived 2020-12-23 at the Wayback Machine)
  2. Brummell, Paul (2006). Bradt Travel Guide Turkmenistan. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 127. ISBN 1-84162-144-7.
  3. "French archaeologists present new findings to Ak Bugdai museum". turkmenistan.ru. October 31, 2007. Retrieved November 1, 2009.
  4. Lecomte, Olivier, (2011)."Ulug-depe: 4000 Years of Evolution between Plain and Desert" Archived 2020-06-23 at the Wayback Machine, in Historical and Cultural Sites of Turkmenistan, p. 223.
  5. Victor Sarianidi, Margiana and Soma-Haoma. Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies (EJVS), Vol. 9 (2003) Issue 1c (May 5); archived 10 May 2020
  6. "La mission archéologique Franco-Turkmène" (in French). Guimet National Museum of Asian Arts. Archived from the original on March 11, 2008. Retrieved November 1, 2009.
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