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Central Asia and the Interaction Between the Iranian Plateau and the Steppes in Late First Millennium BC Case Study from Ulug-Depe in Turkmenistan

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Central Asia and the Interaction Between the Iranian Plateau and the Steppes in Late First Millennium BC Case Study from Ulug-Depe in Turkmenistan Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia 24 (2018) 331-353 brill.com/acss Central Asia and the Interaction between the Iranian Plateau and the Steppes in Late First Millennium BC Case Study from Ulug-depe in Turkmenistan Johanna Lhuillier* cnrs umr 5133 Archéorient [email protected] Julio Bendezu-Sarmiento** Délégation archéologique françaises en Afghanistan (dafa) / cnrs-Ext-500 [email protected] Abstract Research led by the joint French-Turkmen Archaeological Expedition (MAFTur) at Ulug-depe have brought to light the longest continuous stratigraphic sequence of southern Central Asia, starting from the Late Neolithic up to the Middle Iron Age. During the last fieldwork seasons, a later, still poorly-known occupation has been identified: after its abandonment at the end of the Middle Iron Age period, Ulug-depe was briefly reoccupied during the late 1st millennium BC. The archaeological levels related to this occupation are extremely poorly preserved, and this stage is mainly wit- nessed by a particular pottery complex. Preliminary and ongoing researches on this pottery complex suggest that it principally includes Hellenistic-period vessels associ- ated with some more unusual shapes. This association of material finds analogies in the area of interaction between the northern and the southern parts of Central Asia (i.e., in Uzbekistan, in a territory stretching from Tashkent to the Aral Sea through the Syr Darya area). In this paper, we will present a first overview of these discoveries, * Université Lyon 2, Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée, 7 rue Raulin 69365, Lyon, France. ** DAFA, Shash Darak, Kabul Afghanistan. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi:10.1163/15700577-12341335Downloaded from Brill.com10/10/2021 08:29:01PM via free access 332 Lhuillier and Bendezu-Sarmiento placing Ulug-depe at the crossroads of different cultural groups, sedentary and pos- sibly nomadic, at the end of the 1st millennium BC. Keywords Turkmenistan – Ulug-depe – Hellenistic period – pottery 1 Introduction The French-Turkmen archaeological mission works at Ulug-depe since 2001. In 2010 we identified for the first time some elements related to the very last occu- pation of the site, which we temporarily attribute to the Hellenistic period in a broad sense. This paper offers us a possibility to present the first results of the ongoing study of these data, consisting mainly in ceramics. We do not intend here to go into much detail regarding the dating of the numerous pottery types, which have been well discussed elsewhere,1 but rather to contribute filling a gap in the mapping of Hellenistic Central Asia. Ulug-depe is located 175 km east of Ashgabat in Turkmenistan, not far from the village of Dushak, in an alluvial plain of the eastern foothills of the Kopet Dagh (fig. 1). The site was first studied by V.I. Sarianidi in the 1960s. Sarianidi dug several trenches in order to obtain a preliminary chronological sequence of the site identifying the main occupation stages of Ulug-depe during the Bronze and the Iron Ages.2 Ulug-depe is a site equidistant from the well-known sites of Namazga-depe and Altyn-depe. Thanks to its location, in an area at the crossroads of south- ern Central Asia and Iran, Ulug-depe was deemed to be a key settlement for the study of the local variant of the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (a.k.a. Oxus Civilisation). For this reason the French-Turkmen Archaeological Mission (MAFTur) chose to investigate Ulug-depe in order to study the proto- historic periods of southern Central Asia. In the 2000s the MAFTur, originally under the direction of M. Mamedow (National Department for the Protection, Research and Restoration of Monuments of the Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan) and O. Lecomte (CNRS) – and now directed by Mamedow and J. Bendezu-Sarmiento (CNRS) – resumed the excavations at Ulug-depe. As main result of this long-term research 1 For a recent study, see Lyonnet 2012. 2 Sarianidi 1969; 1971; 1972. Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to DownloadedSiberia from24 (2018)Brill.com10/10/2021 331-353 08:29:01PM via free access Central Asia and the Interaction between the Iranian Plateau 333 Map of Turkmenistan with location ofMap ofTurkmenistan Ulug-depe. figure 1 Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia 24Downloaded (2018) 331-353 from Brill.com10/10/2021 08:29:01PM via free access 334 Lhuillier and Bendezu-Sarmiento activity we obtained at Ulug-depe the longest stratigraphical sequence of southern Central Asia: with an area of about 13 ha at its base, a height of about 30 m from the surrounding plain, the site has been occupied continuously at least from the Early Chalcolithic – maybe from the Late Neolithic, according to the discovery of isolated potsherds – unto the Middle Iron Age.3 After this last period, two limited occupations occurred: one at the end of the 1st millen- nium BC, on which we will focus here, and a second, very temporary, during the Islamic period. 2 The Archaeological Context The remains of late 1st millennium BC Ulug-depe are mainly located among those of the Middle Iron Age settlement, when an urban settlement occupied most of the top of the site. The site, surrounded by a fortification wall, consists of a lower town, poorly preserved, and an upper town enclosing several large buildings.4 In the upper town, the most impressive building of the Middle Iron Age is a square 40 m-sided “citadel”. To the west of it, a long rectangular build- ing (approximately 60 × 25 m) divided into long and narrow rooms has been interpreted as a warehouse. The Middle Iron Age city was abandoned around the 7th century BC; the “citadel” and other buildings were emptied, and in some cases closing rituals were performed.5 The dating of the city, for the difficulty in identifying a precisely dated pot- tery assemblage, has initially been subject to debate: first preliminary attributed to the pre-Achaemenid/Achaemenid period (Middle/Late Iron Age),6 now its chronology is confirmed in the Middle Iron Age, i.e. the pre-Achaemenid period.7 This is based on several concomitant elements: the stratigraphic data (which evidenced a continuous occupation with the Early Iron Age levels),8 a better knowledge of the pottery types of the Yaz II complex – Middle Iron Age (that constitutes the majority of the findings)9 and of specific shapes,10 and 3 For a complete overview of this sequence, see Lecomte 2007; 2013. 4 For a complete overview of this city, see Lecomte 2013, 170-180. 5 Lecomte et alii 2002; Lecomte & Mashkour 2013. 6 Boucharlat et alii 2005. 7 Since there is no “Achaemenid” occupation at Ulug-depe, this term does not refer to the local periodization of the site, but we rather use the term “pre-Achaemenid” in a strict chronological meaning, to speak about the period prior to the Achaemenid domination over Central Asia. 8 Lhuillier et alii 2015. 9 Lhuillier et alii 2013. 10 Lecomte 2013, 174-175. Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to DownloadedSiberia from24 (2018)Brill.com10/10/2021 331-353 08:29:01PM via free access Central Asia and the Interaction between the Iranian Plateau 335 finally several radiocarbon unpublished dates. As for now, no evidence of an Achaemenid occupation could be identified with certainty, and, thus, we can- not rely on the stratigraphy and on the evolution of the pottery types to date the late 1st millennium BC remains.11 3 The Late 1st Millennium BC Archaeological Remains The remains relative to the late 1st millennium BC occupation are found almost at the surface level in the uppermost layers, and thus partly eroded, of the site. The Middle Iron Age “citadel” and the “warehouse” – both displaying thick, lasting walls – were partly reoccupied: in some areas of the two build- ings, new mud-brick walls and stone structures relative to new structures were built during the late 1st millennium BC. This is particularly noticeable in the south-eastern corner of the external, peripheral corridor of the “citadel” where large boulders were used, together with fragments of mud bricks, to build small walls to divide the corridor into small rooms. In the area south of the citadel, some walls were built with mud bricks of similar size than those used in the citadel (60 × 30 × 10 cm). This fact may indicate that they were reemployed. However, other walls in the same area were built with square mud bricks (32 × 32 × 10 cm) which are usually taken as a chronological indicator of the Hellenistic period.12 Some post-holes and large fireplaces built with boulders have been discovered between the partially destroyed walls of the earlier warehouse (fig. 2, Ch. 21, 22, 28), and are related to several short-time squatter occupations. In the western and south-western parts of the site and down below the tepe (fig. 2, Ch. 19, 31, 32), the structures did not follow the orientation of the most ancient architectural remains. There, small domestic rooms with fireplaces and storage pits have walls built with rectangular mud bricks13 and stones pre- served only for two or three courses. Sometimes no architectural structures were preserved, and only floors with some grinding tools testify an ancient occupation. During the first years of work of the French-Turkmen team, we had some difficulties in understanding these badly preserved superficial structures 11 On the contrary to Merv and other sites of Bactria, where a thorough examination of the pottery complexes in relationship with the stratigraphy evidenced the persistence of Yaz III types into the Hellenistic period (see Puschnigg 2008; Callieri 2014). 12 For a recent synthesis about this, see Mokroborodov 2013. 13 These bricks have a standard size of 60 × 30 × 10 cm.
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