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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 par ...
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 so ...
, 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 lies ...
in the
Kopet-Dag The Köpet Dag, Kopet Dagh, or Koppeh Dagh ( tk, Köpetdag; fa, کپه‌داغ), also known as the Turkmen-Khorasan Mountain Range, is a mountain range on the border between Turkmenistan and Iran that extends about along the border southeast o ...
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 Mikhail Evgenievich Masson (5 December 1897 in Saint Petersburg – 2 October 1986) was an important Soviet archaeologist. He was the founder of the archaeology school in Central Asia and a professor, doctor of historical and archaeological scienc ...
. 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 Quett ...
(Pakistan), an important precursor to the
Indus Valley civilization The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300  BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900& ...
, resemble those discovered at
Teppe Zagheh Teppe Zagheh ( fa, تپه زاغه) is an early urban settlement located near Qazvin, Iran. In Persian, ''teppe'' means " tell, hill". Settlement The settlement has been dated to have been built in 6500 BCE. After the re-excavation of Zagheh in ...
, 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 ...
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 archaeologica ...
, 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 Einkorn wheat (from German ''Einkorn'', literally "single grain") can refer either to a wild species of wheat (''Triticum'') or to its domesticated form. The wild form is '' T. boeoticum'' (syn. ''T. m.'' ssp. ''boeoticum''), the domesticated ...
or
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 ...
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 Jarmo (Qal'at Jarmo) ( ku, Çermo) is a prehistoric archeological site located in modern Iraq on the foothills of the Zagros Mountains. It lies at an altitude of 800 m above sea-level in a belt of oak and pistachio woodlands in the Adhaim ...
(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 Valley ...
.


Jeitun culture

Jeitun culture may have begun prior to 7000 BC, judging by the age of
Sang-i Chakmak Sang-i Chakmak (''Tappeh Sang-e Chakhmaq, Sange Chaxmaq, Chakhmagh'') is a Neolithic archaeological site located about north of the village of Bastam in the northern Semnan Province of Iran, on the southeastern flank of the Elburs Mountains. T ...
, 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 flo ...
, 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. H ...
, 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&nb ...
.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 Shahrood ( fa, شاهرود, also Romanized as Shâhrūd, and Shahroud; also known as Shârūd) is a city and capital of Shahrood County, Semnan Province, Iran. Situated about an altitude of 1345 m, it is located at latitude 36°25'N, lon ...
, and also east to the
Tedjen river The Hari River ( or prs, هری رود, translit=Harī Rōd; ps, د هري سیند) or Herat River is a river flowing from the mountains of central Afghanistan to Turkmenistan, where it forms the Tejend oasis and disappears in the Karakum Des ...
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 border ...
. Two other early Jeitun sites Chopan and
Togolok Togolok is an archaeological site in the Murghab Delta, Turkmenistan, located about 10–15 km south of Gonur (or about 40 km north of Mary, Turkmenistan). Togolok 21 is an Indo-Iranian temple and fortress dated to the first hal ...
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 ...
.


See also

* Mergarh * Ulug Depe


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