Monjukli Depe is an ancient settlement in south

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 ...

, at the northern edge of the

Kopet Dag The Köpet Dag, Kopet Dagh, or Koppeh Dagh (; ), 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 of the Caspian Sea, stretching nort ...

mountains. Excavations reveal occupation from the

Late Neolithic In the Near Eastern archaeology, archaeology of Southwest Asia, the Late Neolithic, also known as the Ceramic Neolithic or Pottery Neolithic, is the final part of the Neolithic period, following on from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic and preceding th ...

period, starting about 6200 BC, to the early

Chalcolithic The Chalcolithic ( ) (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in di ...

period. The earliest layers belong to the

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 interr ...

culture of Turkmenistan. The prehistoric settlement lies in an arid

alluvial plain An alluvial plain is a plain (an essentially flat landform) created by the deposition of sediment over a long period by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A ''floodplain'' is part of the process, bei ...

, which is bordered in the north by the

Karakum Karakum may refer to: * Karakum Desert, a desert in Central Asia * Aral Karakum Desert * ''Karakum'' (film), a 1994 Turkmen film * Karakum Canal, Turkmenistan * Karakum District, Turkmenistan See also * Karakoram, a large mountain range spanning t ...

desert and in the south by the slopes of the Kopet Dag. The mountains also mark today's political border with

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. About two kilometers northwest of the site runs the dry bed of Meana river, where the modern village of

Miana, Turkmenistan Miana is a large village in Ahal Province, Turkmenistan, not far from the Iranian border. The eleventh century Abu Said Meikhene Mausoleum, dedicated to Abū-Sa'īd Abul-Khayr lies to the northwest. Geography The village is accessed via a road f ...

is located. The large Bronze Age settlement of Altyn Depe is located about 2km to the northeast.

Excavations

The first excavations by Aleksandr A. Marushchenko took place in 1959, and were later continued by his colleague O. K. Berdiev. The results of this first investigation were compiled in a preliminary report. In 2010, the potential of the excavation site was recognized by Susan Pollock and Reinhard Bernbeck, and this led to five further excavation campaigns (2010–2014) on site.

Chronology

The location is important for establishing the regional chronology, because here the Neolithic layers are followed by the Chalcolithic. However, in 2010, the subsequent excavations have found a long settlement break between the end of the Neolithic settlement (layers XV, 6200–5600 BCE) and the Chalcolithic resettlement (layers IV to I, 4650–4340 BCE). Based on this, the "Meana horizon" was defined here, which appears to be limited regionally to the

Kaka District Kaka District is a district of Ahal Province, Turkmenistan. In ancient times the area was a fertile agricultural plain to the north of the Kopet Dag mountain range. A number of important Bronze Age sites exist in the area, such as Ulug Depe and Ab ...

of Turkmenistan, and precedes 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, ...

IA phase.

Chalcolithic settlement

Layers IV to I were excavated over a large area. They contain standardized houses with a square floor plan, and pillars in the middle of rooms. In the top two layers, an enclosed open space was identified, in which, judging by the animal bones found here, the banquets took place. In the lowest layer IV, a house with a wall painting was found portraying two persons, also featuring some abstract patterns. The residents of Monjukli Depes lived from herding and agriculture. Sheep and goats were dominant among the herd animals. Cattle, as well as their skulls, played an important role in the banquets. In so far as the wild animals, remains of gazelles and onagers were found. Barley and wheat were important in arable farming, with the analyzes potentially indicating simple irrigation. Very little ceramic was produced in the Chalcolithic Monjukli Depe. On a general level, there are ceramic parallels to the Sialk II / Cheshme Ali horizon of the Iranian highlands.

Notes

Literature

* Reinhard Bernbeck, Susan Pollock: ''Scalar Differences: Temporal Rhythms and Spatial Patterns at Monjukli Depe, Southern Turkmenistan''. In: ''Antiquity'' 90 (349), 2016, S. 64–80 doi:10.15184/aqy.2015.197 * Susan Pollock, Reinhard Bernbeck, Brian Beckers, :de:Norbert Benecke, Jonas Berking, Gabriela Castro Gessner, Jana Eger, Birgül Öğüt: ''Archaeological Work at Monjukli Depe: A Regional Perspective''. In: ''Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran und Turan,'' Band 47, 2018, S. 1–47 * Susan Pollock, Reinhard Bernbeck, Birgül Öğüt (Hrsg.): Looking Closely. Excavations at Monjukli Depe, Turkmenistan, 2010–2014 Sidestone Press, Leiden 2019 * Jana Eger, Corinna Knipper, Norbert Benecke: ''Stable Isotope Evidence for Animal Husbandry Practices at Prehistoric Monjukli Depe, Southern Turkmenistan'', erscheint in: ''Archaeozoology of the Near East XIII. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Symposium on the Archaeozoology of Southwestern Asia and Adjacent Areas, Nicosia''. * David R. Harris: ''Origins of Agriculture in Western Central Asia: An Environmental-Archaeological Study''. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia 2010 * Fredrik T. Hiebert, ''The Kopet Dag Sequence of Early Villages in Central Asia''. In: ''Paléorient'' 28 (2), 2002, S. 25–41 * Herrmann Müller-Karpe: ''Neolithische Siedlungen der Dzejtun-Kultur in Süd-Turkmenistan.'' C.H. Beck, München 1982 * Raphael Pumpelly: ''Explorations in Turkestan, Expedition of 1904: Prehistoric Civilizations of Anau, Origins, Growth, and Influence of Environment''. Volume 1, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington 1908

External links

First Results of the Excavations
Freie Universität Berlin, Institute for Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology Populated places established in the 7th millennium BC Populated places disestablished in the 5th millennium BC 1959 archaeological discoveries Archaeological sites in Turkmenistan Neolithic sites of Asia {{Central Asian history