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Downloaded from Brill.Com10/07/2021 04:12:57PM Via Free Access Storage Practices in the Merv and Serakhs Oases 441 at Different Levels (Family, Society Or State) Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia 24 (2018) 440-466 brill.com/acss Storage Practices in the Merv and Serakhs Oases of the Partho-Sasanian Period Barbara Kaim* Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw [email protected] Abstract In antiquity the oasis of Merv in the Murghab delta formed a relatively homogenous cultural region. At least from the Bronze Age onwards, the oasis shared a similar his- tory with the neighbouring oasis of Serakhs in the ancient Tedjen delta. This paper focuses on storage practices in these two regions, drawing on recent archaeological work in the area which has revealed the existence of an array of methods for the storage and the administration of resources both in private dwellings and in official buildings. For a fuller picture, earlier storage practices and storage systems in these regions and neighbouring areas are first discussed, including specifically the area of the province of Parthia. Keywords storage practices – Ancient Central Asia – Merv – Serakhs – Partho-Sasanian Period 1 Introduction Every community, whether settled or nomadic, needs to stock its agricultural produce and raw materials in order to meet the demands of the population in repeated periods of limited availability of resources (e.g. between visits of suppliers or between harvesting cycles), and also in case of natural disasters. As ensuring food and raw material security is of utmost importance, stor- age becomes a tool to control goods designed for later use or redistribution * 00-927 Warsaw, Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28, Poland. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi:10.1163/15700577-12341338Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 04:12:57PM via free access Storage Practices in the Merv and Serakhs Oases 441 at different levels (family, society or state). Hence storage practices may reflect changes in social or political systems, becoming an important indica- tor of social hierarchy, organisation, and of modifications in administration practices. Therefore a study focusing on storage practices may provide fundamental evidence on the economy of households as well as of entire societies. Types of stored goods determine the selection of specific containers, while quantities of stored goods depend on whether needs of a single family or a larger com- munity are to be satisfied. Indoor or outdoor storage facilities establish various social relationships, while the presence of inscriptions and/or seal impressions in storerooms can inform us about the resources of the administrative appara- tus of a community and of the organizational methods used by it. In general, it could be said that a good understanding of ancient storage practices help us improving our knowledge on the culture, economy and social organization of ancient societies. Unfortunately, despite this potential, studies which offer a detailed analysis of storage practices in ancient Central Asian communities continue to be occasional. 2 Overview of Storage Practices in Ancient Central Asia Up to the Middle Parthian Period The earliest known Central Asian storage containers (jars and bins) and facilities (rooms, houses and various installations) date back to the Neolithic period.1 These elements are clearly linked to the development of agriculture and to the need for storing agricultural products (primarily grain) for gradual consumption until the new harvest. However, Central Asian clay sealings,2 which are a valuable source of information about storage practices and on the system for controlling resources, do not appear until the Late Eneolithic Age: we have evidence for this class of material for the first time at Altyn Depe (Namazga III period).3 The Altyn Depe corpus, composed by 10 sealings, shows one or several impressions of the same seal. Most of the sealings have on their back imprints of a knot of string, fact that suggests that they were intended to prevent unau- thorized access to an object (or an area) secured with a string. Only one of these sealing still preserves the impression of the shoulder and of the neck 1 Hiebert 2003, 16. 2 In this paper, “sealing” means clay lumps used to secure access to containers or spaces. 3 Kircho 1990, 176-183; 2001; 2008, 104-105. Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia 24Downloaded (2018) 440-466 from Brill.com10/07/2021 04:12:57PM via free access 442 Kaim of the ceramic vase that it used to seal. On the other hand, the reverse of another specimen from the same corpus results flat, which means that this sealing was meant to be used on a flat surface like a specific type of container, a wall or a door.4 The Altyn Depe sealings were uncovered during the excavation of Trench 5, located on the outskirts of the late Eneolithic settlement. The excavation of the trench has revealed a group of private domestic dwellings distributed around an open area, or courtyard. The sealings were found distributed in these spaces. Although seals are usually regarded by archaeologists as strong indicators of institutional administration and control of storage or other eco- nomic processes, in the case of Altyn Depe, it is clear that the use of sealings was not connected to public or administrative buildings. In addition, the small total amount of recovered specimens points to the fact that these sealings were unlikely used in public administration activities. It seems rather prob- able that they may have been used to identify individual property within communal storehouses. This hypothesis is supported by the presence of a spe- cific structure unearthed inside the abovementioned Altyn Depe’s courtyard. The structure was constituted by several parallel walls (with a height of 0.3 m) and had the spaces between them filled with bricks up to one-third of its full height. According to the excavators, these long and narrow spaces were meant to ensure a suitable ventilation for the grain which was most probably stored on an elevated wooden platform once located on top of it.5 Given its location and considerable size (5.8 × 2.7 m), this storage structure is likely to have been used by residents of nearby dwellings for communal storage. In this case it seems that the agrarian products of a community were stored in collective storehouses and intended to meet the needs of the whole community. Central administrative institution were not involved in this type of storage activity.6 Similar structures to that observed at Altyn Depe were uncovered in other sites along the Kopet Dagh piedmont, all dating back to the Early Neolithic onwards (Early Djeitun).7 No such structures have been identified so far in Early Bronze Age (Namazga IV) or later sites and, at Altyn Depe, from the Early to the Middle Bronze Age houses had storeroom(s) or large storage jars were placed in living spaces.8 Moreover, despite the presence of stone, metal and terracotta seals in the Early and Middle Bronze layers of Altyn Depe, there is 4 Kircho 2008, 104. 5 Kircho 2001, 9-10, fig. 3. 6 Hole 1998. 7 Hiebert 2002, 8-9. 8 Masson 1988, 39, 61, 98, 102. Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to SiberiaDownloaded 24 from (2018) Brill.com10/07/2021 440-466 04:12:57PM via free access Storage Practices in the Merv and Serakhs Oases 443 as yet no evidence of seal impressions.9 This specific modification of storage practices and seals use probably reflected a change in social relations between the Late Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age. Finds such as unsealed lumps of clay from the Middle Bronze Age levels of Anau South show a way to secure stored goods similar to that used at Altyn Depe but without using the seals.10 At Anau, when still moist, these clay lumps were pressed onto the necks of vessels or of other oval objects. Some of them have textile impressions on their rounded surface. F. Hiebert argues that the room and associated courtyard in which the lumps were discovered are to be identified as the part of a public (administrative) structure and connected with commercial activities.11 However the presence of domestic rubbish in the deposits of the courtyard better suggests a communal storage function for this complex. The use of seals for administrative purpose reappeared (albeit to a very lim- ited extent) sometime at the end of the Middle Bronze Age (late Namazga V) and continued to be rare in the Late Bronze Age, as shown by several clay lumps bearing seal impressions discovred at the Margiana sites of Gonur Depe and Togolok 21 and belonging to the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC), also known as the Oxus Civilization.12 It should be noted, however, that in Margiana – at least in some cases – the seals were used for dif- ferent purposes other than those attested at Altyn Depe. Among the sealings of Margiana, in fact, there are jar stoppers, bullae bearing impressions of stamp- cylinder seals (i.e. spherical or ovoid clay lumps once attached to a string or cord), lumps of sealed fired clay and a clay disk carrying two impressions of a single seal without traces capable of indicating the object, if any, to which the disk might have been originally attached.13 The purpose of the two latter types of sealings is still unknown. However it seems possible that they may have been used to identify individual property within the communal storehouses. This opinion is supported by ethnographic observation of modern communal storage systems made in the Jebel al-Akhdar (Libya), where decorated seals and stone tablets with incised signs are used for this purpose.14 9 Masson 1970. Similar situation was observed at Tepe Yahya in south-east Iran where no evidence of use of seals in an economic/administrative capacity after Proto-Elamite period, see Pittman 2001, 232.
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