Namazga-Tepe or ''Namazga-depe'', is a
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
(
BMAC) archaeological site in
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 foot of the
Kopet-Dag, near the delta of the
Tejen River, some 100 km east of
Aşgabat
Ashgabat (Turkmen language, Turkmen: ''Aşgabat'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Turkmenistan. It lies between the Karakum Desert and the Kopet Dag, Kopetdag mountain range in Central Asia, approximately 50 km (30 ...
, near the border to
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 ...
. Excavated by
Vadim Mikhailovich Masson,
Viktor Sarianidi, 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 the
Jeitun culture.
Chronology
It is believed that the
Anau 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.
Namazga V (c. 2400–2000 BC),
is in the
Integration Era 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 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 inc ...
is characterized by the incursion of nomadic pastoralists from the
Alekseyevka culture and/or
Srubna culture.
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
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
* entry in
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Tells (archaeology)
Archaeological sites in Turkmenistan
Former populated places in Turkmenistan
Ahal Region