Jeitun (Djeitun) is an archaeological site of the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

period in southern

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

, 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 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 Vadim 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 is a Neolithic archaeological site situated on the Kacchi Plain of Balochistan, Pakistan, 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 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 from 2600 BCE ...

, resemble those discovered at Teppe Zagheh, and at Jeitun.

Agriculture

The people of the Jeitun culture were growing

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

and two sorts of

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

, 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, 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 Kermanshah province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran, bordering Iraq. Its capital is the city of Kermanshah. According to a 2014 segmentation by the Ministry of Interior (Iran), Ministry of Interior, it is the center of Regions of Iran ...

and Luristan, to the sites such as Tepe Guran, Tepe Sarab, and Ganj Dareh.

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, other related sites are Yarim Tepe (Iran), and Tureng Tepe.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, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. 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 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.

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