Farming Sites in Southern Tajikistan from Late Bronze to Early Iron Ages

Farming Sites of the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages in Southern Tajikistan
Author(s): Natalia M. Vinogradova and Giovanna Lombardo

Source: East and West, Vol. 52, No. 1/4 (December 2002), pp. 71-125
Published by: Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente (IsIAO)
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Farming Sites of the Late Bronze
and Early Iron Ages in Southern Tajikistan
by Natalia M. Vinogradova
and GlOVANNA lombardo
The territory of South Tajikistan, ancient Bactria in the Late Bronze and Early
Iron Ages is in the focus of the present study. The excavations of the South Tajik
archaeological expedition headed by B.A. Litvinsky made it possible to trace the
continuous progress of Archaeological culture from the Neolithic Age to the Early
Iron Age in this region. At present there are more than 300 monuments of the
Hissar neolithic culture, the earlier date of the Hissar culture is determined by
radiocarbon analysis of the second horizon of the settlement of Tutkaul as 6070?70
B.C. (according to St. Peterburg laboratory) (Ranov 1982: 26) 5150+140 B.C. or
4810?110 B.C. All the earliest three dates for the Hissar culture belong to the 6th
5th millennium B.C. The lower limit of the Hissar culture monuments is determined
by radiocarbon date for the Hissar layers of Kangurttut settlement is 2710?120 B.C.
(Ranov 1998: 107). In V.A. Ranov's opinion the Hissar culture in the mountain areas
of South Tajikistan existed till the coming of new tribes of the second half of the 2nd
millennium B.C. of the Bronze Age (Ranov 1982: 26) (x).
Some archaeological culture of the Late Bronze Age can be singled out on the
territory of South Tajikistan. They are farming type monuments of the North
Bactrian variant of the Namazga VI culture and of the steppe cultures - the Vakhsh
and Beshkent cultures. There can be observed an infiltration of the Northern steppe
tribes of the Andronovo type in Southern Tajikistan.
The genesis of farming settlements and graveyards of the North-Bactrian variant
of the Namazga VI culture on the territory of Southern Tajikistan is connected with
the monuments of Southern Uzbekistan, the so called Sapalli culture at its latest
phases, Molali and Bustan (Fig. 1). Nowadays the way of infiltration of this culture
into the territory of South Tajikistan can be traced: via the Surkhan Darja valley into
the Hissar valley and the upper reaches of the Vakhsh valley to Parkharo
Kuliabskaya valley. The reasons for the migration of farming population to the
North-east of mountain valleys of Southern Tajikistan could be of ecological
(x) In Southern Tajikistan has not been found out any archaeological evidence filling up a cultural
gap, if it had existed, between the pre-ceramic Hissar late Stone Age and the monuments of the late
Bronze Age.
[1] 71
(aridity), demographic and economic character (population increase, need for
occupation of new lands and pastures, trade contacts).
It should be emphasized that there are different names for Margiana-Bactrian
monuments of the late Namazga VI culture. These are the Oxus culture (Francfort
1984: 170-75), the Namazga culture (Kohl 1981), the Sapalli culture (Askarov 1977:
5), Bactrian-Margiana archaeological complex (BMAC - Sarianidi 1990). We think it
is possible to retain the name of Namazga VI culture assuming that there are several
local chronological variants and thus, the definition of North Bactrian variant of this
culture can be attributed to monuments of Southern Tajikistan.
The chronology of the Namazga VI is still debatable between the archaeological
school of scholars of the former USSR on the one hand and of the European and
American scholars on the other. The former place them in the middle and in the
second half of the 2nd millennium B.C. (Sarianidi 1990: 74; Askarov & Shirinov
1993: 81; P'jankova 1986: 56-58; Vinogradova 1994: 42; Khlopin 1983: 57) which
corresponds to the traditional chronology of Eurasian steppe culture (Itina 1977:
139; Kuzmina 1985: 24; Zdanovich 1988: 8). The European and American schools
accept the calibrated radiocarbon dates (Lyonnet 1993: 195; Hiebert 1994: 77;
Francfort 1989: 242; Goetzelt 1996: 135, 157) and place them in the first half of the
2nd millennium B.C. (2). These dates in their turn correspond to the calibrated dates
for steppe cultures (Kuzmina 1998: 5). According to E.E. Kuzmina, at present it is
correct to use either a traditional method of syncronization with cultures of Europe,
Ancient East and China or a radiocarbon method.
The farming tribes under the study are located on the northern outskirts of the
Bactrian civilization. Their archaeological complexes are represented by quite 'poor'
finds but they are very important in understanding the historical processes which
took place in the late 2nd millennium B.C. The farming tribes come into close
contacts with the population of the steppe cultures - the Andronovo people and the
Beshkent-Vakhsh tribes (Vinogradova 1993: 19).
In Southern Tajikistan of the late Bronze Age there were several agricultural
oases situated in loess foothills and semi-montaneous zones which were good for
both farming and cattle breeding. Atmospheric precipitations were a contributory
factor for dry farming. The foothill of the plain was good for irrigation. Tributaries
of mountain rivers were the main source of water. In the last two decades the South
Tajik archaelogical expedition has discovered a number of farming settlements and
cemeteries of the North-Bactrian variant of the Namazga VI culture (the settlements
of Kangurttut. Dakhana, Teguzak, Baraki Kurug; the cemeteries of Tandyriul, Zar
Kamar, Kangurttut, Parkhar) and Yaz I culture (the settlements of Karim Berdy,
Kangurttut - the upper horizon, Teguzak - the upper horizon) (Fig. 1).
(2) Table 1 shows the main C14 dates for Namazga V-VI monuments but here a strong incoherence
of dates should be taken in consideration. Thus, for example, C14 dates for a final layer of Namazga VI
at Namazga settlement itself vary from 1884 B.C. to 818 B.C. (Hiebert 1994: 82, table 5, 4).
72 [2]
Fig. 1 - The map of the sites.
Fig. 2 - The general view of the site of Kangurttut.
[3] 73
The spore-pollen analysis of the loess soil of the settlement of Kangurttut allows
to reconstruct the paleogeographic situation in the neolithic and late Bronze periods
in the south of Tajikistan. In the lower layer of the settlement belonging to the
Hissar neolithic period E.A. Spiridonova singles out the pollen of wood species -
birch (13% from the general composition). Herbaceous plants make up 69-70%
and spores where green moss prevails are 17-18%. The spectrum composition
evidences warm and humid climate. The spore-pollen complexes from the horizons
of Kangurttut of the Bronze Age differ from the previous neolithic complex. 95% in
the spectrum belongs to the pollen of the herbaceous plants and shrubs. The pollen
of the wood species is practically lacking. Steppe plants are abundant in the
vegetable top-soil. This fact points out the aridity of climate in the late Bronze
period as compared with the Hissar neolithic period.
The location of farming sites of Southern Tajikistan evidences their oasis type. At
present three farming oasis can be singled out: the Hissar valley, the valleys of the
upper reaches of the river Vakhsh, in the area of Nurek and Kangurttut, and the
Kulyab valley along the rivers Kyzylsu and Yakhsu. In the Shaartuz district of the
lower reaches of the Kafirnigan some chance findings have occurred.
The Hissar Valley
In the Hissar Valley oasis two ancient graveyards of the farming culture are
known, Tandyriul and Zar-Kamar. Some burials are known in the monuments of the
Kushana Period in Tupkhona (Dyakonov 1950: 167, 176) and Kara-Pichok
(Vinogradova & P'jankova 1983: 62). The materials of a farming settlement were
discovered by P.T. Samoilik in the lower stratigraphic layers of Hissar fortress (3).
The cemetery of Tandyriul (Vinogradova 1991: 68) was revealed on the second
terrace of the left bank of the river Karatag, near the 'kishlak' of Negmad-Bacha II
in Tursundaevsky region. There was no settlement related to the cemetery in the
vicinity (4). The cemetery covers the area of 300 x 500 m; 34 graves were dug. The
burial had a 'podboino'-catacomb construction which was marked by an entrance
pit filled with stones (Vinogradova 1991: 80). There were graves in simple pits. The
method of burying was inhumation or fractional burial. The latter are quite few. The
skeletons were set in a contracted position - men on their right side and women on
their left side - with the head oriented North-eastward or South-eastward. There
occurred cenotaphs with anthropomorphic images - grave no. 2 (Fig. 3). Some
burials had charcoals remains and burnt skeleton bones on the bottom. In terms of
(3) P.T. Samolik's excavations are not published.

(4) The settlement could have been destroyed during the work of levelling the ground. The
peculiarity of South Tajik monuments is a lack of the 'Depe' (the hill formed by the ancient remains) as
an outward attribute of the settlement.
74 [4]
5
I0
a 0 Fig. 3 - The necropolis of Tandlyriul. Burial 2.
151 75
f
Fig. 4 - The necropolis of Tandyriul. A stone column and a weight.
anthropology the dead can be referred to European Eastern Mediterranean type

(Kijatkina 1987: 25, 36). The burials contained some pots and vessels (Fig. 5),
miniature metal objects (5), ornaments made of stones and metal (Figs. 7-8),
sculptural representations made of unbaked clay - a man (Fig. 3.1) and a lion (Fig. 9).
Two finds revealed in the ruined burials are of interest: a stone column and a weight
(Fig. 4.1, 2). The material presented here (Figs. 5, 7-9) is typical of the monuments
of the Sapalli farming culture of the Molali and Bustan phases (Askarov 1977: fig.
32; Avanesova 1997: 147) with the exception of one grave (no. 25) with funeral
furnishings containing the vessel with cannelures and bronze objects analogous to
those from the monuments of the Andronovo culture (Fig. 6; Vinogradova 1991: 76
77). In addition to Molali pottery some burials contain vessels which are typical of
the Beshkent-Vakhsh culture: handmade round based vessels and the so called
biconical vessels (Fig. 5.18-25).
(5) A large percentage of tin (14%) is noteworthy (Vinogradova 1991: 85-86).
76 [6]
2 3
0\ o
0 20 12
9
227KI2EB .
24 5
Fig. 5 - The necropolis of Tan
[71 77
?a ? dj uro 0~0 5
Fig. 6 - The necropolis of Tandyriul. Burial 25.
Among the occasional finds in mountain areas of this region worth of mention
are copper axes discovered in the village of Arakchin, not far from Varzob and
Sharshar, to the south of Dushanbe (Fig. 27.4, 5) (Kuzmina 1966: 8, 19). A bronze
dagger of Luristan-Caucasian type comes from the village of Ramit, not far from
Dushanbe (Fig. 27.6) There are some finds of Molali pottery found in destroyed
burials not far from Dushanbe and a bronze mirror with a handle discovered in the
'kishlak' of Kara Pichok of Hissar region (Fig. 27.3).
The Upper Reaches of the Vakhsh Valley
In the upper reaches of the Vakhsh valley several settlements are known, namely
Kangurttut, Dakhana, Teguzak, Baraki-Kurug and Nurek cemeteries.
Kangurttut has been excavated for several years (Vinogradova 1987: 76; 1994,
1996). The excavated cemetery was situated in the mountain valley not far from the
'kishlak' of Kangurttut in the Dangarinsy region (district). The settlement covered an
area of 500 x 300 m (Figs. 2, 10). The thickness of the cultural layer is 0.5 to 2.5 m.
There are two stratigraphic stages in building the settlement. In some cases under the
Bronze Age stratum there was the neolithic stratum of the Hissar culture. There is no
gap between the layers but the Bronze Age layer does not contain Hissar pebble tools
and grounds out of small stones which is typical of the Hissar culture. This
archaeological evidence contradicts the hypothesis of Ranov about the Hissar neolithic
culture existing as long as the Bronze Age. We think that the Hissar culture
discontinued existing in the 3rd millennium B.C. and was replaced much later, perhaps
in the Middle Bronze Age (the finding of copper axes), by the farming culture.
The architecture was typical of mountain areas. Houses on terraces and stone
based walls were excavated (Fig. 11). Houses have large yards with household pits.
According to architect N. Baimadova the present lay-out of one of the rooms (area
II, Fig. IIa) is very close to that of the so called 'avain' dwelling house which is
traditional in many regions of Central Asia. Figure lla shows the reconstruction of
78 [8]
0i@ q-? O-S Q-? Qh?> 0-?
20 0 ? O? 0-@ d-? ?'@ ?-?
Fig. 7 - The necropolis of Tandyriul. Small finds made of metal, stone and paste.
the excavated dwelling (reconstruction by N. Baimatova). The elongated proportion

is common for such houses where half open middle part is, as a rule, a room giving
access into other two side rooms with a roof.
Household rooms, hearths, kilns, storage pits for keeping grain were found.
Kilns were discovered on the outskirts of the settlement (area la, XI). The pottery
can be divided into three groups: wheel-thrown pottery of Molali-Bustan type
(53%) (Fig. 12), handmade pottery (46,5%), the so-called 'steppe' cliche
[9]
Fig. 8 - The necropolis of Tandyriul. Small finds made of metal, stone and paste.
ornamented Andronovo ware (0,2%) (Fig. 13) (6). Some specimen occurred of
handmade, round-based pottery which is typical of the Beshkent-Vakhsh culture.
Bronze finds comprised knives-sickles, two-edged daggers, awls, buttons etc. (Fig.
15.3-14). There were some findings of casting moulds (Fig. 15.2-2). They differed in
the increased tin content (5%) and were similar to those from the Late Bronze Age
Andronovo monuments (7). Some object were represented by pestles, balls, grain -
graiters (Fig. 17) (8), as well as spindle whorls (Fig. 14), anthropomorphic and
zoomorphic clay figurines (Fig. 16).
Barley (Hordeum vulgare-, Hordeum vulgare nudum), wheat {Triticum aestivum,
Triticum dicoccum), millet (Panicum miliaceum) and flax (Linum usitatissimum) were
also traced. 36% in osteological material constituted cattle (Bos taurus); 52,3%
- goats and sheep (Ovis and Capra), 9,8% - horse (Equus caballus), 1,9% - donkey
(Equus asinus) (9).
In the upper layers of the settlement there was found Yaz I type pottery. This
allowed us to date the upper limit of the Bronze Age monument existence back to
the very late 2nd-early 1st millennium B.C. (Vinogradova 1994: fig. 4.16-19).
The cemetery of Kangurttut is situated 200 m South-west of a settlement on a
high slope (Vinogradova 1996: 171; here Fig. 2 in the upper part, on the right). The
(6) The percentage in the groups of pottery is given according to one of the areas (Area VI).
(7) The analyses were carried out in a laboratory by J. Ravic (Moscow).
(8) About 50 grain graiters were found in some household rooms (Area IX).
(9) The analyses were carried out in a laboratory of the Institute of Archaeology of RAN: the
palaeobotanical was carried out by E.Yu. Lebedeva and the osteological by E.E. Antipina.
80 [10]
cemetery was deserted by the inhabitants of the ancient settlement. 91 graves were
discovered (Fig. 18). All of them, with some exceptions, were cenotaphs containing
burial furnishing. There can be observed a certain similarity in the appearance and
type of burial structure (Fig. 21.1). The burials were marked with stones on the
ancient surface. All the burials were of 'podboino'-catacomb type; in some cases the
grave entrance pits were filled with large pieces of clay. The burial chamber was
always turned to the slope elevation.
In some burials with skeletons, these were set in a contracted position. One
burial (no. 53) contained a male inhumation (Fig. 20). The dead man was on his
right side facing the grave entrance. There was an animal jaw beside the skull. The
burial furnishings included 7 wheel-thrown vessel and some miniature metal knives.
Some burials with disconnected skeletons were uncovered: the skull, long-boned
arms and legs were placed in the burial. All burials were adult inhumations of
European mediterranean type (according to TP. Kijatkina 1987).
In some cases anthropomorphic clay figurines (unburnt clay) or clay pieces
were placed into the burial instead of a dead person (Figs. 21-24). Sometimes a
burial chamber had a special place left free for the inhumation (Fig. 23). Burial
furnishing comprized miniature bronze objects (a mirror, knife-razor, axe-adze and
a small bronze cup) (Fig. 26). Animal bones also occurred. The burial finds can be
compared with those from the settlement: all pottery with the exception of some
vessels was wheel-thrown, similar to that from Molali-Bustan monuments of the
Sapalli culture (Fig. 25) (10).
Two burials from the settlement are of special interest. In Area XI two Late
Bronze Age fractional graves were found in desolate kilns. The kiln (no. 3, Fig. 19)
was first carefully cleared from fragments of the dome. The skull of a man lay in the
centre of the chamber. A pile of long bones of legs lay South-west of the skull. On
the botton were found a flat stone and a badly preserved stem fragment of a bowl of
the Molali-Bustan type pottery. Numerous bones of a lamb and cattle were cleared.
According to L.T. Yablonsky the skull belonged to a 17-30 year-old woman. L.T.
Yablonsky correlates the skull from Kangurttut with an anthropological series of
skulls of the Tazabagyabskaya culture in the lower reaches of the Amudaria and the
Andronovo people of East Kazakhstan. In his opinion it demonstrates racial-genetic
contacts between the steppe population and that of the South of Central Asia in the
Late Bronze Age (11).
The other kiln (no. 4) was also used as a funeral chamber. Some fragments of a
35-45 year old man were cleared (12). The analysis of the collagen of the bone
remains was carried out by Prof. L.D. Sulerjitsky in the laboratory of geochemical
(10) One burial contains the Vakhsh pottery (burial no. 69).
(n) L.T. Yablonsky's article 'A Skull of a Man from Kangurttut' (not published).
(12) According to D.V. Pezhemsky, an associate of the anthropological laboratory of the Institute of
Ethnography of RAN.
[11] 81
Fig. 9 - The necropolis of Tandyriul: a 'lion' made of unburnt clay
isotopes and geochronology of the Geological Institute of the RAN (Russian
Sciences Academy) showed two C14 calibrated dates: GIN 9479 (kiln no. 4): 1435
or 1320 B.C., GIN 9480 (kiln no. 3): 1976 or 1756 B.C. (13).
The settlement of Dakhana (P'jankova 1994a: 151; 1998: 163) is located on the
territory of the town of Nurek. The cultural Bronze Age layer constitutes 0.5 to 1 m.
The construction remains were represented by stone based walls of 2-3 wide rows of
stones. Sometimes the floor was covered with pebbles. Five dwellings were revealed.
A fire chamber belonging to the kiln placed in the exterior has been found. Two
construction periods could be singled out. Wheel-thrown pottery with white slip
was 86%, handmade pottery 14%. There were also large storage pithoi 'khums', or
smaller pithoi ('khumchairs'), deep carinated bowls ('tagoras'), jars, potlike vessels,
bowls, perforated jars, handmade pots. Among the other finds were a bronze knife
of the 'steppe' type, spindle whorls. The material can be compared to the
assemblage found at Kangurttut.
The settlement of Teguzak is located some kilometers far from the village of
Sebiston in Dangarinsky district, on the second lower terrrace of the Vakhsh
(P'jankova 1985; 1987: 117; 1988: 297). The Bronze Age layer was covered by the
cultural layer of the Hissar culture. The architectural remains were represented by
stone based walls built of two to three rows of stones. One residential complex
consisting of two rooms was totally excavated; the dwelling corners were oriented to
the parts of the world. A cult complex with a pedestal coated with clay was
discovered. The Molali pottery of the farming culture was predominant. One of the
areas showed a very high percentage of the Andronovo 'steppe' type pottery with
comb-puncheon ornament. Some tools, bronze objects and casting forms made of
local stone rock occurred.
The cemeteries of Nurek (P'jankova 1979a: 78) were discovered in the zone of
the Nurek power station near the complex of Tutkaul on the loess terrace of the
Vakhsh left bank.
The burial constructions were not distinct due to their poor preservation. A
burial chamber with bone traces (a skull and long bones of arms) was found. It was
blocked with a stone slab. Only some skeletons in a contracted position were
excavated (one was a double burial). Other burials did not contain bone traces or
they can be regarded as cenotaphs similar to those found in the cemetery of
Kangurttut. Burial furnishings included vessels (ranging from 1 to 5) which were
typical of the farming pottery from South Tajikistan (vases, bowls, pots etc.), beads
(one was an axe shaped pendant similar to that found at Tandyriul), a golden temple
ring (Fig. 27.2) and a bronze knife of the so called 'tail' type.
(13) There are two other C14 dates for the settlement of Kangurttut (lower levels of Area VI),
carried out by the CNRS laboratory in France: 1594 and 1291 B.C.
[13] 83
The Kulyab Valley
This region has not been thoroughly studied but there are good prospects for a
search of monuments of the farming culture. Due to the work of the Kyzylsuisky
team two monuments of this culture were discovered but unfortunately they are
situated on the territory of the present Muslim cemeteries. Khodja Goib, one of the
monuments, is located in Kulyab where three vessels were found, one of which has a
spout. They come from destroyed burials and have many analogies in the farming
complexes of Margiana and Bactria (Goetzelt et al. 1998: 119, fig. 2.1-3).
Another graveyard, Parkhar, is located on the hill not far from the town of
Parkhar (Goetzelt et al. 1998: 130). At present it is a Muslim cemetery. One of the
destroyed burials contains a stem fragment of a vase of Molali type and two silver
bracelets (Fig. 27.7-8) which have an engraved ornament of four-leaf rosettes. This
motiv is common for seals and amulets of Bactria and Margiana monuments. The
shape of the bracelets, having a rib, is typical of both Central Asian farming culture
and of the steppe tribes of Andronovo culture. There are no analogies to the
bracelets clasps in the shape of an '8' (eight) figure.
Chance findings: The museum in Kulyab keeps a clay model of a house
(analogous objects can be found in the plundered graveyards of Southern Bactria
and in the Zamam Baba graveyard). It is the first find of this kind on the territory of
Southern Tajikistan (Azizi 1992: 13). Different regional museums of the Kulyab
valley exhibit slate 'sceptres', some stone 'weights' and other objects analogous to
the finds of Bactrian monuments of the farming culture (Fig. 27.9)
Shaartuz District
Finally two burials of the farming people near the town of Kizlar-Kala of
Shaartuzsky district in the Shah oasis (Litvinskij & Sedov 1983: 80) should be
mentioned. The burials are of the catacomb type. The first burial was very rich. It
contained two skeleton lying face to face in a contracted position. A bowl and a
large number of beads in bronze, silver, paste, carnelian and lapislazuli and a
pendant made of bronze and gold (Fig. 21.10-14). The second burial included two
vessels and a bronze knife. All the ceramic material is typical of the Molali phase of
the Sapalli culture. In particular see the Tandyriul assemblage (Figs. 3,5-8).
Summing up the results of the excavations we can conclude that the building
technique (stone foundation with clay walls) is not common for classical monuments of
the late Namazga culture. In all probability this specific building technique might be
influenced by environmental conditions in a mountaineous area. Examples of terraced
houses are well known in ethnographic literature of Tajikistan (Andreev 1958:431).
The structure of burial constructions, funeral ritual and grave furnishings is
comparable with those of the Late Bronze monuments of Southern Uzbekistan and
84 [14]
Fig. 10 - The lay-out of excavations and the necropolis of Kangurttut.
neighbouring regions. A specific character of our graveyards is that they are usually on
the slopes of the hills and due to this position the burial chamber lays at a greater
depht than the entrance shaft. The entrance pit is blocked up with stones or large clay
pieces. The 'podboino'-catacomb kind of burial construction is typical of related
farming cemeteries of the neighbouring Surkhan Daria valley - Djarkutan, Bustan
(Shirinov & Baratov 1997 : 65; Avanesova 1997: 148), of the Sumbar valley (Khlopin
1983), of Turkmenia and of Dashli in Afghanistan (Sarianidi 1977). In these burials the
catacomb entrance was blocked by row of bricks. In some cases, at Kangurttut, the
burial places are the abandoned potter's kilns, the parallels to which can be found in
other farming settlements in Southern Uzbekistan - Bustan IV (Rahmanov 1979: 38).
In the cemetery of Kangurttut and in the Nurek graveyards, unlike the cemetery
of Tandyriul, more than 90% of burials were cenotaphs. This kind of burial
appeared on a large scale at the so-called Molali-Bustan stages of the Sapalli culture.
According to A. Askarov and T. Shirinov they consist of 17% (reach the proportion
of 17% - Askarov & Shirinov 1993: 79). In the necropolis of Bustan N. Avanesova
singles out the so-called group of symbolic burials containing animals, clay figurines,
etc. Skeletons are absent in these burials (Avanesova 1997: 151; for the cenotaphs
see G. Lombardo, here, pp. [43]-[44]).
[15] 85
The following part, written by G. Lombardo, regards the analysis of the material
culture from the settlements and graveyards of Southern Tajikistan to define the
closest analogies, mainly from the sites of Northern Bactria.
(N.M.V.)
The Material Culture of the Farming Sites in Southern Tajikistan
The Pottery (Figs. 3.2-10, 5, 12, 21.3-12, 223-6, 25, 28.2-11)

Our documentation of the pottery belonging to the Farming culture of Southern
Tajikistan comes for the most part from some larger settlements and necropolis: to
the West the cemetery of Tandyriul in the Hissar valley, near the upper course of the
river Surkhandar'ja, the two necropolis of Nurek and the settlement of Dakhana in
the basin of the upper river Vakhsh to the East and, a little more to the south, the
necropolis and settlement of Kangurttut and the settlement of Teguzak (Vinogradova
1993:290).
The pottery assemblage of the Tajik sites belongs, together with the Sapalli
culture, to the greater Namazga VI-Yaz I culture of which the Sapalli culture itself is
the North Bactrian variant (see Vinogradova, here, p. [1]). It must be said, however,
that if, generally speaking the pottery forms from the farming sites of Tajikistan have
correspondence in the assemblages of the Southern Turkmenian sites, not all the
Namazga VI forms are reflected in the Tajik production: some forms, in fact, are
rather typical of the Sapalli culture area or more closely limited to Southern
Tajikistan. Notwithstanding this, many comparisons between the pottery of the Tajik
and that of the Turkmenian sites can be found and, moreover, the manufacture of
the pottery itself, with its red paste covered by the heavy white slip is quite typical of
Namazga VI (see later).
Inside the whole pottery assemblage from the Sapalli sites of Southern Tajikistan
we must make a distiction between the site of Tandyriul, which perhaps could be
dated slightly earlier, and the other sites which belong to the last part of the Molali
and to the Bustan phases.
The pottery from Tandyriul is generally wheel made, has a fine purified paste red
in colour inside, with mineral and some vegetal inclusions, and externally covered
with a thick white slip; The production of other sites, like Kangurttut, for example, is
slightly coarser: it is thicker, the paste is less depurated and compact, there are more
inclusions. The shapes of vessels are bowls on stem, (wide cups on a stem ending in a
conical foot, Fig. 5.1-3), globular high necked jars with tapering base (Fig. 5.4-7) or
biconical jars (Fig. 5.8), globular beakers with everted rim and distinct base (Fig.
5.15-17), globular or biconical pots with short neck and flat, sometimes distinct base
base (Fig. 5.13-14), a type of deep bowl, with everted rim, ribs and a carination
86 [16]
[17] 87
called in Tajik language 'tagora' (Fig. 5.9-12). The Andronovo ceramics is represented
in a small percentage in the pottery production from Tandyriul. The ceramics from
Tandyriul belonging to the late Sapalli culture shows some differences in the pottery
shapes with the production of the other sites of Southern Tajikistan, Kangurttut,
Nurek, Teguzak, Dakhana, although the types are in general the same. Some forms,
moreover, seem to be missing in the Tandyriul assemblage but this could be due to
the fact that only the necropolis, many burials of which were badly damaged, has
been discovered: the settlement, that surely must exist, has not yet been found.
Among the forms missing at Tandyriul are the cylindrical beakers that can be found
instead in Kangurttut, both in the necropolis and in the settlement, in some different
types: with a carination in the lower part of the body, sometimes near the basis (Fig.
25.36, 38-39, 41), in other cases with a rounded carination (Fig. 25.35), or with
nearly straight sides (Fig. 25.37); the rim is generally everted but there are also
vertical rims (Fig. 25.37, 39) and rims forming a short spout (Fig. 25.37). This form
is nearly absent in Tandyriul where is reproduced in miniature (Fig. 5.26-27). The
carinated beakers from Tandyriul are also different from the same type from other
sites, being globular rather than carinated and ending with a distinct base (Fig. 5.15
17). The same type in Kangurtt and Nurek becomes squat, has a marked carination
in the lower part of the body and has a plain flat base (Fig. 25.17-24 from
Kangurttut; P'jankova 1981a: 305, fig. 18 II 1, the last two beakers from the left in
the upper row and all the beakers in the lower). This type of beaker is documented
in the Uzbek sites, particularly Djarkutan and Bustan in both the variants, the
globular and the carinated, but the first one is more typical in the first part of the
Molali phase while in the last part of Molali and in the phase of Bustan its
production seems to decrease and the carinated type begins to be produced in
greater amount (Shirinov & Baratov 1997: 103, fig. 24.19-22 from the necropolis 4c
of Djarkutan, Period III a, 115, fig. 32.12-19 from the Period III b of the same
necropolis; again from Djarkutan, see Askarov & Abdullaev 1983: 107, pi. XXXVII,
Grave 55, on the right, nos. 4-5, 109, pi. XXXIX, Grave 220 on the right, no. 6, pi.
XL, Grave 234 on the right, nos. 1-3; Avanesova 1997: 161, fig. 7.4-5, 163, fig. 9.7, 9,
164, fig. 10.21, 13, 171, fig. 14.5-6 from Bustan VI). As in Tandyriul only the
globular beakers are documented this could suggest that this necropolis is more
ancient than the other cemeteries from Southern Tajikistan where the globular type
of beaker has not been found. Both the globular and the carinated beaker can be
found also in Southern Tukmenia, in the Namazga V-VI periods. The bowls on stem
from Tandyriul have shorter stems with a carination at the junction with the cup
(Fig. 5.1-2) and in some cases another in the middle of the stem itself (Fig. 5.3). This
last type is documented also in Kangurttut (Fig. 25.8) but beside it there is another,
which has a cylindrical stem without carination (Fig. 25.1-4). Both the varieties are
documented in the settlements of Teguzak (P'jankova 1988: 254, fig. 4.2, 5, 6) and in
the cemeteries of Nurek (P'jankova 1981a: 305, fig. 18, I), in the settlement of
Dakhana the form is documented but the vessels are fragmentary, as it looks like, the
88 [18]
[19] 89
Fig. 13 - The settlement of Kangurttut. The Andronovo pottery.
type with simple short stem can be found (P'jankova 1994a: 155, figs. 13, 15, 17). In
Uzbekistan the low stem with a rib at the junction with the bowl starts in a less
elaborated form, with smaller ribs, already during the Djarkutan and Kuzali phases
but becomes rather frequent in the Molali one (Shirinov & Baratov 1997: 69, fig. 23
4; 72, fig. 43-4; Askarov & Abdullaev 1983: 21,1.5, Kuzali phase; 26, LI, 2, 6, Molali
phase; Shirinov & Baratov 1997: 103, fig. 243-7, from the Period of Djarkutan III a,
early Molali; 115, fig. 32.2, without rib, from the Period III b, late Molali; Avanesova
1997: 163, fig. 93-6 from Bustan VI). In one of the burials in the necropolis of
Kangurttut (Grave no. 36) has been found a type of globular chalice covered with a
layer of red paint or thin slip (Fig. 25.5) which is not documented in the pottery
assemblages of the Molali phase neither in Uzbekistan nor in Tajikistan but is instead
characteristic in the Sapalli and Djarkutan phases in Uzbekistan (Askarov 1977: 180,
pi. XVIJ-4, 7-9, 12-16, 213, pi. XUX.10-18). All the other vessels in the same grave
were covered with red paint and red painted pottery has been found in other three
burials in the necropolis of Kangurttut (Graves nos. 11, 22), it is possible that these
90 [20]
Fig. 14 - The settlement of Kangurttut. Spindle whorls and other small clay objects.
burials are slightly more ancient than the others in the cemetery, also because of the
presence in one of the globular chalice typical of the Djarkutan phase.
As to other types of open vessels, the simple emispherical bowl with a flat or
sometimes a slightly distinct base and a straight or inverted rim, is very frequent in
Kangurttut (Fig. 25.25-26, 29-32) but is rare in Tandyriul. The characteristic type of
bowl from Tandyriul instead is the 'tagora' (see above, p. [18]) that is deeper, has
everted rim with one or more grooves followed by a sharp carination under it (Fig.
5.9-12). This form is present also in the settlement of Teguzak, where it is produced
in a simpler type, without the carinations and grooves of the bowls from Tandyriul
(P'jankova 1979b: 95, fig. 2.1-2; 1988: 257, fig. 6.2). The crater 'tagora' is present
also in the settlement of Kangurttut, in two variants: a type with more rounded body,
with ribs and grooves (Fig. 12.12), and a conical type also with a complex outline
(Fig. 12.13, see Fig. 5.10, 12 from Tandyriul). Bowls of a type related to the 'tagora'
are documented in Southern Turkmenia (Goetzelt 1996: pi. 9.112 from Altyn Tepe,
pi. 10.116-117 from Namazga, Periods of Namazga V-VI). In the other sites of the
farming culture there is a variety of bowl types: emispherical with a carination under
the rim (Fig. 12.14-15 from Kangurttut; P'jankova 1988: 254, fig. 4.8 from Teguzak),
deep or shallow bowls with inverted rim and flat base (Fig. 25.25 from Kangurttut;
probably P'jankova 1979b: 95, fig. 2.9-10 from Teguzak and 1994a: 155, fig. 4.21-22
[21] 91
2
6a
0 cm
1 OO
- o cm
Fig. 15 - The settlement of Kangurttut: 1-2
92 [22]
Fig. 16 - The settlement of Kangurttut. Clay figurines and graffiti.
from Dakhana, all fragmentary, so it can only be supposed that the base was flat);
deep or shallow bowls with a rounded carination under the rim and flat base,
sometimes distinct (Fig. 25.23, 25, 27-28 from Kangurttut); deep conical bowls with
carination under the rim and distinct base (Fig. 25.23, 25, 32, from Kangurttut;
P'jankova 1988: 254, fig. 7 from Teguzak). There are also other types of bowls: with
ring base, conical body and a carination under the rim or large and shallow, with
plain vertical rim, also with ring base (Fig. 25.31 and 34 from Kangurttut) or conical
with a low pedestal base (Fig. 25.33 from Kangurttut): this last type can be found
also in Djarkutan, in the Molali phase (Askarov & Abdullaev 1983: 26,1.10).
Other vessels from Tandyriul show some differences with the corresponding
forms from the other Tajik sites: the globular or ovoid jars from Tandyriul have
longer neck, more rounded, not very sloping shoulders and distinct base (Fig. 5.4-7),
while in the production of Kangurttut and Nurek, for example, the jars have pear
shaped or biconical bodies, rather than globular, with sloping shoulders and simple
flat rather than distinct base (Fig. 25.11-16, P'jankova 1981a: 305, fig. 18, II, 1, the
first and third from the left, III).
[23]
I 6
0 lOchn
Fig. 17 - The settlement of Kangurttut. Stone tools.
The same thing can be said for the pots, which in the pottery from Tandyriul
have high shoulders, globular body tapering near the distinct base. The distinct or
tapering base is in general a typical feature of the pottery from Tandyriul which
can be considered typologically very near to the production of Djarkutan in the
first part of the Molali phase (Djarkutan III a according to Shirinov & Baratov
1997: 65-66 and 103, fig. 24). Most of the pots from Kangurttut and Nurek have
biconical, or ovoidal body with sloping shoulders, short neck, broad mouth with
everted rim, flat base (Fig. 25.44-47 from Kangurttut; P'jankova 1981a: 305, fig.
18, II, 2, the first four vessels from the left, from Nurek); in the assemblage from
Kangurttut are also documented globular or ellipsoidal pots with flat base and a
type with distinct base and globular pots with tubular spout (Fig. 25.50-52 and 42
43). The pots from Teguzak and Dakhana are mostly of globular or ovoidal shape,
with a broad mouth, short neck or no neck at all, flat or distinct base (P'jankova
1979b: 95, figs. 2.15, 22, 3.9-21; 1988: 254, figs. 4.12, 5.1, 3, 6.1 from Teguzak;
P'jankova 1994a: 155, fig. 4.6-12, 5.17 from Dakhana). In Teguzak there is also a
type of small piriform jar with high neck which cannot be found in Kangurttut but
94 [24]
3$
2g
mk mm
B5 ;M4
as
ft BE
h\rd,
J4w
-p?3
(TO
mir
xm'
xxm
Fig. 18 - The necropolis of Kangurttut. The la
is documented in Bustan (P'jankova 1988: 254

pi. LXII. 17 from Bustan).
Another vessel shape often found in the set
Dakhana and in the cemeteries of Nurek but n
ovoid, globular or ellipsoidal pot with distinc
body and sharply tapering base (Figs. 12.2
P'jankova 1988: 254, fig. 5.10 from Teguzak;
1981a: 305, II, 3 from Nurek). This type of po
assemblages of the Uzbek sites from the Sap
1977: pi. XXI from Sapalli Tepe, pi. I?.1-4 fro
LXV.2, 6, 10-13 from the Molali phase of Djar
from Bustan VI, Molali-Bustan phase). Finally
neck and conical body with a carination near
bottle, not very frequent in Southern Tajikis
[25] 95
Tepe Hissar III B, Altyn Tepe and Sapalli Tepe (Schmidt 1937: pi. XXXVII.H.2227,
H.3841, very similar to the bottle from Kangurttut; Goetzelt 1996: pi. 64.855a;
Masson 1988: pi. VI.5; Askarov 1977: pi. XLVII.26).
In the settlements of Kangurttut, Teguzak, Dakhana have also been found large
storage 'pithoi' with short vertical rim and probably ovoidal or globular body (Fig.
12.25-20 from Kangurttut; P'jankova 1979b: 99, fig. 4.2, 3, 4-11 from Teguzak;
1994a: 155, figs. 4.2-2, 5, 6.23, 16-18 from Dakhana).
The Southern Tajik sites are in different ways related to the Uzbek sites of the
Sapalli culture. All the vessel shapes that we can observe in the sites of the upper
Vakhsh valley and in Tandyriul are documented in the Uzbek sites: Djarkutan,
Molali itself, Bustan in their Molali-Bustan phases (Askarov 1977: pis. LIX-LXVI;
Askarov & Abdullaev 1983: pis. XLVII-LII; Avanesova 1997: figs. 7, 9-10, 14).
The pottery from Tandyriul seems to be connected to that of Djarkutan III a,
which in the new inner chronology established by Shirinov and Baratov (1997: 65
66) corresponds to the first part of the Molali phase. Nearly all the pottery forms
found in Tandyriul have comparisons in Djarkutan: the various types of bowls on
stem, except the type with the carinated ring in the middle of the stem, the pots, the
globular high necked jars, the small globular jars and beakers with distinct base, the
deep bowls (Shirinov & Baratov 1997: 103, fig. 24; see here Figs. 3 and 12). Some
pottery forms from Tandyriul have analogies also in the ceramics from the necropolis
of Bustan VI: the small globular jars and beakers with distinct base, the various
kinds of bowls on stem, a type of globular jar (Fig. 5.2-3, 7, 14-17; Avanesova 1997:
163-64, figs. 9.3-6, 7-9, 10.9).
The assemblages from Kangurttut and Nurek, instead, seem to be related to the
second part of the Molali and to the Bustan phase. The vessel shapes from Kangurttut
have almost exact comparisons in Djarkutan III b: the footed bowls, the globular and
biconical pots or jars, the globular pots with tubular spout, the carinated and
cylindrical beakers, the various types of shallow and deep bowls (Figs. 12, 25; Shirinov
& Baratov 1997: 115, fig. 32; Kohl 1984: pi. 22, Molali assemblage). The same types of
vessel from Kangurttut and Nurek can be compared to the specimen from Bustan VI
(Figs. 12.2, 25, 21-22, 25.2-4, 12-14, 17-20, 23, 29, 35, 42, 45, 48, 51-52 from
Kangurttut; P'jankova 1981a: 305, fig. 18,1, the second footed bowl from the left, II 1,
particularly the first row, II 2, II 3, the second pot from left, III, the upper jar; fig. 19,
IV, the fourth beaker from the left, V, the second bowl of the second row, the last of the
third row, the first of the last row: see Avanesova 1997: figs. 7, 9.2-2, 4, 10, 10, 14.2-5).
Some of the pottery shapes, however, as we have seen, are characteristic of the
sites of the upper Vakhsh valley while others are rather typical of the Tandyriul
assemblage. These differences may be due to the fact that Tandyriul is probably a
few centuries more ancient than these sites, particularly than Kangurttut and the
cemeteries of Nurek.
In regard to the relations with the Turkmenian sites, the forms that can be found
both in Southern Turkmenia and in Southern Tajikistan are the craters or 'tagora',
96 [26]
deep conical bowls with slightly rolled rim and flat base, emispherical bowls with
slight carination and distinct base, globular pots with everted rim and flat or distinct
base, of various sizes, globular or ovoidal pots and pithoi with truncated body and
tapering base, cylindrical, globular and carinated beakers, with concave sides and
tapering flat base, globular spouted pots or kettles (Goetzelt 1996: pi. 9.112 from
Altyn Tepe, nos. 110, 112 from Namazga, no. Ill from Altyn Tepe; pi. 10.116-117
from Namazga, nos. 121a from Togolok 21 and 121d from Gonur; pi. 26.370a from
Achal; pi. 17.221 from Namazga; pi. 18.235^ from the Achal; pi. 29.412/ from
Gonur I, pi. 36.493 from Altyn Tepe, nos. 496a and 498a from Namazga, no. 498b
from the Achal; pi. 38.512, no. 515b from Altyn Tepe, no. 515c from Togolok 21; pi.
39.520 from the Achal-Etek, no. 524 from Takhirbai 3; pi. 40.525 from the Kelleli
oasis; pi. 25.354 from Auchin Tepe, no. 356 from Takhirbai 3; pi. 54.717, from Altyn
Tepe; pi. 13.162/, the second and the last of the first row; pi. 54.712-713, also from
Altyn Tepe; pi. 68.883c, no. 887 from Altyn Tepe, no. 886b from Namazga). In
particular, the assemblage from Kangurttut, both settlement and necropolis, shows
some similarities with the pottery of the settlement of Takhirbai 3 in Margiana:
footed bowls, globular or ellipsoid jars with bevelled bases, pitchers with vertical
spout, large conservation jars, carinated beakers, large shallow bowls (Masson 1959:
pis. V.l, 4, 6-7, VI.2, 5, 8, 15-17; P'jankova 1994b: 364, fig. 6 III; see here Figs.
12.18-19, 22-23, 25.1, 18-20, 34, 42, 48-49).
Some comparable forms can be found also in the assemblage from the sites of
the Sumbar valley: deep conical bowls, craters ('tagora'), shallow emispherical
bowls, carinated beakers, kettles with tubular spout (Khlopin 1986: 81, fig. 58.7 A.2;
80, fig. 57.6; 66, fig. 34 J; 68 fig. 38.6-7, all from Sumbar necropolis I).
The Metal Objects (Figs. 7, 15, 25)

Two different metallurgic traditions can be observed in the objects which
constitute our documentation about the sites of Southern Tajikistan: one belongs to
the Sapalli farming culture and is therefore inside the Namazga VI horizon; the
other is the metal industry of the Andronovo tribes.
The objects belonging to the Sapalli tradition which have been discovered are
mainly miniature objects found in the grave furniture of the cemeteries of the culture
and some implements and weapons in life-size from the settlement of Kangurttut. All
the metal objects found in the settlement are in bronze, made with the alloy of copper
and tin, with a percentage of tin ranging from 3 to 5% (Ravich, forthcoming). In the
same settlement, together with some artifacts belonging to the Sapalli tradition, other
objects have been found which are instead typical of the Andronovo metallurgy: two
specimen of bronze knives-sickles, the so called 'tail knives', which have curved end
and only one working side while the other is thicker (Fig. 15.10-11). In one of the two
knives, which is nearly complete, the handle is slightly broader than the end; another
similar but fragmentary knife has been found in the settlement.
[27] 97
This type of knife is well known as a product of the metallurgy of the Andronovo
culture, spread from Siberia to Central Asia: a comparison can be found in a bent
knife belonging to the Preobradzensky hoard found near the lake Issyk-Kul
(Avanesova 1991: fig. 27, in particular, and figs. 20, 26); a specimen of 'tail knife' or
bent knife-sickle, although its tip is not so strongly bent, has been found in the site
of Kaunda in the area of southern Aral lake (P'jankova 1994b: 366, fig. 7.4, second
half of the 2nd millennium); this type can be found also in the metal industry of the
nomadic culture of Bishkent-Vakhsh (Vinogradova 1994: 40; Mandel'shtam 1968:
pi. III.2). Other implements found in the settlement are two sickles: the first (Fig.
15.12) is fragmentary and all what we can say about it is that it is rather narrow and
has only one cutting side; the other sickle (Fig. 15.13) is also curved and with only
one working side while the other side is thickened. This type of sickle too belongs to
the Andronovo metallurgic production and is documented in the region of Volga
and in Central Asia, especially in Kazakhstan in the Late Bronze Age (Vinogradova
1994: 40; Avanesova 1991: fig. 21.55-60).
Among the other life-size objects from Kangurttut settlement are two complete
daggers: the first (Fig. 15.4) is a long blade with a short broad tang for the handle,
the guard sides very sloping, a slightly rounded point and a central rib. This type of
knife is a product of the Andronovo metallurgy or of the related 'steppe' industry
(Avanesova 1991: fig. 23.20, 30, Urals area, settlements of Volosnikovo - no. 20, and
Visokaja Griva - no. 30); our dagger is also comparable to some blades, found in the
Digoria region, in the Caucasus (Motzenb?cker 1996: pis. 6.6, 17.6, 19.3, 10, from
Verchnaja Rutcha). The other dagger (Fig. 15.5) has a leaf shaped blade with a
rather marked central rib, rounded point and a long thick tang, round in section, for
the handle. This dagger can be compared to two specimens from central Kazakhstan
(Avanesova 1991: fig. 21A.10-11).
In the settlement of Kangurttut have also been found a long pin in the tradition
of the Sapalli culture metal industry (Fig. 15.14) and an arrow point (Fig. 15.6).
The pin belongs to a typology widely spread in Central Asia and particularly in the
area of the Sapalli Culture: it has been found in Sapalli Tepe and Djarkutan in the
Sapalli and Djarkutan phases (Askarov 1977: pis. XXXIII.5, 9-10, 13, 25, XL.12,
XLI. 10 from Sapalli Tepe, Sapalli phase; Askarov & Abdullaev 1983: pi.
XXXIII. 17, from Djarkutan, Djarkutan phase; Askarov & Shirinov 1993: fig.
63.77.1, 3, from Djarkutan, Djarkutan phase). Another comparison for the pin can
be found in the metallurgy of Tepe Hissar III C (Yule 1982: fig. 17.37; see also
Khlopin 1986: fig. 10.11 from Sumbar necropolis I). Again in the metallurgy of
Tepe Hissar III C we can found some arrow point similar to our point from
Kangurttut (Fig. 15.6, see Yule 1981: fig. 16.6; from the necropolis of Sumbar I, see
Khlopin 1986: fig. 62.4). The typology, although, is known also from the nomadic
industry (Avanesova 1991: fig. 7.10, Sargary-Alekseevka culture, genetically related
with the Andronovo culture, 12th-10th century B.C.; fig. 40.VIII.103, 105-106, all
from Central Asia).
98 [28]
The discovery of two moulds for casting (Fig. 15.2-2) is of primary importance
for the knowledge of the metallurgical techniques in this area. One of them is only a
fragment where the point of an implement, perhaps of a pin or awl or of a chisel, can
be seen (Fig. 15.2). The other is a complete mould, composed of two halves,
rectangular in shape, with rounded corners. On its surface can be seen the forms for
an awl or for a very narrow blade with central rib and for a leaf shaped dagger, with
central rib, hilt-guard that gets larger in proximity of the tang. There are no channels
for the pouring of the metal, probably the tanged hollow of the dagger could be
used for this. The blade shapes appearing in the mould, particularly that of the
dagger, are representative of the Andronovo metallurgy: the type is well known from
several specimen found in sites belonging to different phases or aspects of the
Andronovo Culture, in the wide area of its diffusion; according to Vinogradova
(1994: 40-41), this is a dagger of 'classical' Andronovo type, spread not only in
Central Asia but also in South-eastern Europe where it is documented in the Volga
region, in Ukraine, and, more to the West, in the Danube region (Avanesova 1991:
fig. 4.34, Alakul phase, 15th-14th century B.C.; fig. 6.40, Feodorov phase, 14th-12th
century B.C.; figs. 23.26, 27, 24A4, 24B.13, 21B.6, 8).
Other metal objects from the settlement of Kangurttut are an awl (Fig. 15.3), a
button of Andronovo type (Fig. 15.7, see Avanesova 1991: fig. 8.37, culture of
Valiakovaya pottery; fig. 49b, Feodorov phase, 14th-12th century B.C.). Slightly
different buttons are also documented in the Uzbek cemetery of Bustan VI
(Avanesova 1997: fig 13.4) and, much farther towards North-west, in Tepe Hissar III
B (Schmidt 1937: pi. 1N.H.2631) and a small ring (Fig. 15.8): for this ring or earring
there are comparisons in the Andronovo typologies (Avanesova 1991: fig. 46.54-55,
63, Feodorov phase), but the same type, which is very simple, occurs also in the
Sapalli jewellery although there it appears like an open circle while the Kangurttut
ring, like the Andronovo specimen, can be closed (Askarov 1977: pi. XXXVIII.22
24, Sapalli Tepe, Sapalli phase; Askarov & Abdullaev 1983: pi. LV23, Djarkutan,
Molali phase). Another comparison can be found again in some silver earrings again
from Tepe Hissar III B (Schmidt 1937: pi. V.H.2122).
Among the metal finds from the necropolis of Tandyriul are an earring and a
pendant, both in bronze. The earring (Fig. 6.3) consists in a wire folded as a ring,
with a broad end funnel shaped, it belongs to the Andronovo tradition (Avanesova
1991: figs. 44, 45.1-19, 60.2); the pendant also (Fig. 6.2), is a product of the
Andronovo jewellery (Avanesova 1991: fig. 61), the grave itself where both these
jewels have been found is an Andronovo burial.
The documentation that we have at the moment is only partial because there is a
big amount of objects coming from cemeteries, while, on the contrary, still too few
are the metal finds from settlements. Too few settlements, moreover, have been
discovered up till now. In any case, even from the scanty documentation which is
available we can observe that there is a considerable number of tools and weapons
typologically belonging to the Andronovo metallurgy or to a related industry and
[29] 99
this must be meaningful of, may be, a specialization of the nomadic people in
providing and working metal, producing implements, in the interaction and
exchange economy between sedentary people and nomads.
There is a class of bronze objects that is characteristic of the cemeteries during
the Kuzali- Molali phases of the Sapalli culture: the miniature implements, weapons,
ornaments that were often part of the grave furniture in the necropolis of Southern
Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The objects reproduced various types of tools like chisels,
blades (these frequently ritually bent to make them unusable), implements for wood
working, forks for the grains, containers like shallow bowls, toilet objects and
ornaments like mirrors, ear rings, beads. Often in the burials little bowls contained a
group of these miniature objects. This particular element of the grave furniture is
present in Southern Tajikistan in the necropolis of Tandyriul and Kangurttut,
although in this one not in a large amount (Fig. 7.1-17 from Tandyriul, Fig. 26, from
the necropolis of Kangurttut). In Uzbekistan miniature objects have been found in
the cemeteries of Djarkutan, Molali, Bustan. There are, of course, slight differences in
the production of the objects among the various necropolises: those from Tandyriul
(Fig. 7.2-17), for example are accurately made and show more similarity with those
coming from the Uzbek cemeteries (Askarov 1977: pi. LVII.10-14; Askarov &
Abdullaev 1983: pis. XLV.10, 12-16, XLVI.4-9, 11-13, LIV.4-7, Kuzali phase; pi. LV.l,
2, 6, 9-10, 12, phases Molali-Bustan, from Djarkutan). The miniature objects coming
from the necropolis of Kangurttut, besides a high variety of implement types, are
characterized by the presence of toilet objects and ornaments like mirrors, earrings,
beads, an object that could be a ritual sceptre (Fig. 26.19, see Avanesova 1995: 39, fig.
9.12 from Bustan). On the contrary, in the assemblages from Djarkutan, and
Tandyriul the miniature ornaments or toilet objects seem to be missing.
The miniature objects found in the Tajik sites, as in general all those found in the
area of the Sapalli culture in the Kuzali-Molali and Bustan phases, have many
comparisons in the life size objects from various sites, not only in Central Asia but
also in North-eastern Iran: for example the miniature earrings from Kangurttut (Fig.
26.21-22) are paralleled by life size earrings found in a Molali burial in Djarkutan
(Askarov 1977: pi. LXVII.c?-9); another type of earring or temple pendant from
Kangurttut (Fig. 26.7) recalls a pair of golden earrings from Tepe Hissar III C
(Schmidt 1937: pi. LVI.HJ21<?); the miniature mirror from Kangurttut (Fig. 26.40)
has many parallels among Iranian and Central Asian sites: in Central Asia at Altyn
Depe (Masson 1988: pi. XV, item 8), Ranni Tulkhar, the cemetery of the Beshkent
Vakhsh culture (Mandel'shtam 1968: 149, pi. VIII.2), Sapalli Tepe (Askarov 1977:
201, pi. XXXVII.l, 5-6 of the Sapalli phase), Dashly 3 (Sarianidi 1976: 80, fig. 50.1;
1977: 81, fig. 40.1), from other sites (Kuzmina 1966: 143, pi. XIII.2, 6 from Sadovoe,
no. 4, mould, from Chust, no. 9 from Sukuluk), at last, from Tepe Hissar III C
(Schmidt 1937: pi. LTV.H.4872). A type of fork used in agricultural activities (Fig.
26.20 from Kangurttut) can be compared to life size specimen from the Bactrian
tombs (Sarianidi 1977: 78, fig. 37.2, 3) and from Tepe Hissar III C (Schmidt 1933:
100 [30]
[31] 101
pi. CXX.H.166, H.775); some miniature implements found in Tandyriul (Fig. 7.4,
12) can also be compared with real implements from Tepe Hissar III C (Schmidt
1933: pi. CXIX.H.169). Finally two small shovels or scoops from Kangurttut (Fig.
26.17-18) find a very precise parallel in life size shovels from the robbed tombs in
Northern Afghanistan (Southern Bactria - Sarianidi 1990: 115, fig. 5.1, 7).
Among the metal ornaments I must quote two bracelets (Fig. 27.7-8; Goetzelt et
al. 1998: 131-32, figs. 1-3), probably from the burial of a child, one complete and the
other broken in two pieces, which are a very particular and refined product of the
Molali culture. They are ribbon shaped and incised with rosettes, herringbone
patterns and half ovals, or arches, with a fastening in the form of a 'S'. It is a casual
find from the site of Parkhar in the lower Kyzylsu valley where a Muslim cemetery
probably covers a necropolis of the Sapalli-Molali farming culture. These bracelets
show a strong difference in quality and technology with the common products, or
even with the miniature objects, of the metallurgy of the farming culture: as they are
life size and as life size objects are not to be found in the graves of the Molali-Bustan
phases, it is possible that the bracelets from Parkhar and the graves to which they
belonged are of a previous phase, perhaps of Djarkutan phase. Decorated bracelets,
diadems or metal sheet ornaments, although with repoussee, not incised, decoration,
are known from Tepe Hissar III (Schmidt 1937: pi. LYV.H.4112, H.4128 in copper,
pi. EM.H.4321 in silver) and from the cemetery of Sumbar I, in South-western
Turkmenia (Khlopin 1986: 15, fig. 5C, E). The motive of the rosette with four petals
is well known from the protohistoric art of Mesopotamia and Susiana of the 4th and
3rd millennia (Amiet 1961: pis. 25.411, 27.432, 30.475-479, 489, 51.707; 1972: pi.
26.1121, 1133-1134) can be found also in Eastern Iran, in the compartimental seals
of Shahr-i Sokhta and Shahdad, in Bactria (Baghestani 1997: 121, 194-96, fig. 34.94
98; Askarov & Shirinov 1993: fig. 24.12, a seal from the Citadel of Djarkutan).
Clay Figurines
The plastic art is partly represented by anthropomorphic and zoomorphic
figurines of baked and unbaked clay found respectively in settlements and in
cemeteries of the farming culture.
The anthropomorphic figurines have been found mostly in the various
necropolises but some specimens come also from settlements. In cemeteries they
have been usually found in cenotaphs, i.e. in graves containing neither skeleton nor
bones: the anthropomorphic figurines were perhaps intended as substitutes of the
dead people. This is a characteristic of funerary rituals in the Sapalli culture in the
case of cenotaphs: this type of statuette of unbaked clay, representing male or female
personages, can be found in the cenotaphs of the whole area of the Sapalli culture
from the end of the Kuzali and in the Molali - Bustan phases. Also in the necropolis
of Southern Tajikistan these figurines were in cenotaphs. In Tandyriul a male
figurine (Fig. 3.1, h cm 38.7, max. w cm 21.5) was in a cenotaph (Grave no. 2)
102 [32]
Fig. 21 - The necropolis of Kangurttut. Burial 73.
together with nine vessels: it shows a sitting man, represented in profile, his arms in
front of him; the face is drawn in all its particulars, only one arm and leg are
represented, because the man is shown in profile but the two hands and feet are
represented, the hands hold a cubic object with a piercing hole.
This is the only specimen of anthropomorphic figurine from Tandyriul necropolis;
also in Kangurttut some of these figurines have been found, in two graves: a female
figurine in Grave 26 (Fig. 22.2, h cm 33.2, max. w cm 10.2): it is very simply modelled
but many details are represented, as the eyes of an elongated shape, the nose and
mouth, also the representation of the body is accurate: the arms, breast and belly are
represented. The hips are large and the legs are very short, the feet only suggested. In
Grave 73 there were two other figurines, male and female, standing, with a vertical
element between them (the stylized figure of a baby or a phallic symbol?) (Fig. 21.2,
female figurine h cm 27.6, max. w cm 10.6; male figurine: h cm 35, max. w cm 11.6).
103
0 SO
j cm
i
6
These two specimens are worse preserved than the other of grave 26: the faces have no
more details, the male figure has lost its arms. All these figurines are at various extents
very simple and naive in style, especially the two figurines of Grave 73, which, as we
have noticed, show a strong simplification of outlines and faces. It is worth observing
that in the necropolis of Kangurttut, where cenotaphs are the prevailing type of burial,
only three specimens of figurines have been found.
Another female statuette in terracotta comes from the settlement of Kangurttut
(Fig. 16.3: h cm 7.2, max. w cm 2.2), the figure is strongly stylized: the face is
characterized only by the representation of eyes and nose, the arms are suggested by
two short triangular terminations, the lower part of the body is cylindrical because
the figure represented dressing a long gown. This terracotta statuette finds a
comparison in some figurines from the Molali phase from Djarkutan (Askarov &
Shirinov 1993: fig. 50.9-11).
In any case the anthropomorphic figurines trom Southern Tajikistan can be
compared to those from the Uzbek cemeteries like Bustan and Djarkutan. Sometimes
the figurines from these Uzbek sites represent seated personages like the one from
Tandyriul: a seated figurine from Djarkutan represents perhaps a woman with the hands
at her breast. It is difficult to establish if it is really a female figurine but the attitude with
the hands at the breast and the position could suggest that it is (Askarov & Shirinov
1993: fig. 85). Other seated figurines are documented from the necropolis of Bustan VI
although they are different from the Tandyriul specimen (Avanesova 1995: 41, figs. 8,
11,14-15). The Kangurttut figurines (Figs. 21.2,22.2) show some iconographic element,
104 [34]
as the hands at the breast, in common with some specimen from Bustan VI, although
there are also other basic iconographic and stylistic differences (Avanesova 1995: 38,
fig. 8.5, the first figurine of the upper row, 39, fig. 9, the first, 41, fig. 17).
The plastic art is also represented in the finds from the Tajik sites by zoomorphic
figurines or by other objects with animal termination. From the settlement of
Kangurttut comes the head of a horse or hound figurine which is noteworthy for its
realism (Fig. 16.2: h cons, cm 7.4, max. w cm 7.2), a stylistic comparison for it can
be found in the necropolis of Bustan were a horse head, also very realistic, has been
discovered (Avanesova 1995: p 10, fig. 39.7).
In the same settlement of Kangurtttut some fragments have been found, probably
part of objects (perhaps vessels), in the shape of animals: the terminal part of an object
in the shape of a bird's head and the head and neck of a sheep (Fig. 16.1 and 4), both
of them are very carefully moulded. These fragments with animal termination can be
compared to parts of vessels from Djarkutan (Askarov & Shirinov 1993: fig. 501) and
to a votive altar in the shape of a bird discovered in the necropolis of Bustan VI
(Avanesova 1995: p. 38, fig. 7 A). A comparable vessel fragment, a spout in the form of
a sheep has been found in Altyn Tepe in Southern Turkmenia (Masson 1988: pi. XX.4.
[35] 105
See also Hiebert 1994: 66, fig. 4.37.1, 3, from Gonur North, Period I, around the first
centuries of 2nd millennium, according to Hiebert, ibid:. 173, fig. 9.a-b).
From the necropolis of Tandyriul comes a massive figure, representing perhaps a
lion: this is the only specimen of animal figure coming from a necropolis, in fact,
judging from the available documentation, in the cemeteries of the Sapalli culture
only anthropomorphic figurines have been found up till now while nearly all the
zoomorphic figurines come from settlements.
The other finds from the Southern Tajik sites of Tandyriul and Kangurttut consist
of stone objects like amulets, beads of semiprecious stones and implements. An
important class of amulets are the axe shaped pendants (Figs. 7.27-30, 8), present in
the cemeteries of Tandyriul and Nurek (Fig. 8, the first of the second row and the
first and second of the third row), a widely spread typology in the area of the Sapalli
culture during the Kuzali and Molali phases (15th/16th-11 th centuries B.C.), which
was produced also in Djarkutan in the Kuzali, Molali and Bustan phases (Askarov
1977: pi. LVll.18-19; Askarov & Abdullaev 1983: pis. XLVJ-7, LV.i-5; Shirinov &
Baratov 1997: fig. 18.7 from Djarkutan; Avanesova 1997: fig. 10.4 from Bustan VI).
There were also cylindrical beads of semiprecious stones like lapislazuli,
carnelian and beads made of paste of anular shape or composite, i.e. cylindrical with
grooves (Figs. 7.18-21, 8). Chalcedony beads of oblong biconical or of cylindrical
shape and composite paste beads can be compared to beads found in Tepe Hissar
106 [36]
4
20
;~j~ ~ '~i37 i 39 K $
43 .45 4
III C (Schmidt 1937: pi. LXVII.H.3590, the penultimate, H.3591, the third from the
left in the second row, H.3592, the second and the third from the left, H.3593, the
second from the left in the second row; pi. LXVI.H.5223, the last from the left).
In the necropolis of Kangurttut there were no stone pendants or amulets and
generally no ornaments of any type except the miniature metal implements and
ornaments. Some specimens of biconical and cylindrical beads in semiprecious
stones have been found in Kangurttut settlement (Vinogradova 1994: fig. 10.8-9).
A very important and meaningful find from the necropolis of Tandyriul is a small
stone column (Fig. 4.2), the typical 'miniature column' which is so frequent in the
burials of Central Asia, Pakistan, North-eastern and Eastern Iran (Boroffka & Sava
1998). The column from Tandyriul is similar to the other known specimen: with
concave sides and an horizontal groove on the superior face (in particular see
Boroffka & Sava 1998: 29, figs. 11.2-5, 31.2 from Bactria; fig. 16.2-3 from Quetta;
69, fig. 42.4 from Dashli 3; Masson 1988: pi. XXXV.2-2 from Altyn Depe; Hiebert
1994: 156, fig. 9.22.2, 4, 7 from Togolok 21; Museo Nazionale d'Arte Orientale Inv.
no. 6094 from Shahr-i Sokhta; Schmidt 1937: pi. LXI.2-2, 173, fig. 97, 218, fig. 132
from Tepe Hissar). This object comes from a destroyed burial which perhaps
belonged to an important member of the community.
Another stone object found in Tandyriul, probably from the same grave, is a weight
of oval form with a handle (Fig. 4.2). Other stone undecorated weights from Southern
Tajikistan have been casually discovered in the lower Kyzylsu valley; some weights come
also from the cemeteries of Saed (Moskovsky District) and Alimtaj (Dangara District),
two other weights of unknown provenience are in the museum of Kuljab (Goetzelt et al.
1998: 132-33). Other comparisons can be found in some more ancient weights from
Sarazm II (Isakov 1991: fig. 31.2-2, 6-7, 3300-3000 B.C.) and in similar weights
belonging to the Sapalli culture area in Uzbekistan (Askarov & Shirinov 1993: fig.
64.II.2); undecorated stone weights of about the same type have been found also in
Altyn Depe (Masson 1988: pi. XXXV.6; Winkelmann 1997: fig. 13, Namazga IV-V,
second half of the 3rd millennium, see also figs. 12 and 16 for weights from other sites).
In the lower Kyzylsu valley some stone 'sceptres' of a very elongated oval shape (Fig.
27.3) have been casually found in the area of Sovetskij and Kuljab, they are similar to
other specimen in the museum of Kuljab (Goetzelt et al. 1998: 133); they can be
compared to other 'sceptres' from Altyn Depe (Boroffka & Sava 1998: 70-71, figs. 43.2,
44.2; Masson 1988: pi. XXXV.5). These important ritual objects have been frequently
found in graves in Central Asia, their meaning, as in the case of the small stone columns,
is still not completely clear, except for the fact that it is undoubtedly connected to the
idea of power (Boroffka & Sava 1998; Winkelmann 1998:2-3, fig. 1.3).
Several stone farming implements, made of slate, limestone and sandstone, have
been found: among them pestles, grinding stones for grain, graters, strikers, anvils
and weights. N. Skakun (forthcoming) has studied the use traces remained on stone
objects and implements: in many case some grinding stones and the anvils. In some
cases the long sides of grinding stones and those of the anvil appear to have been
108 [38]
Fig. 26 - The necropolis of Kangurttut. Small metal objects from burials: 74 (nos. 1-12); 37 (nos. 13-20);
23 (nos. 27-28); 29 (no. 25); 30 (no. 30); 59 (nos. 31-41); 50 (nos. 42-44).
[39]
used for grinding materials harder than the grain. Some broken grain graters have
been reused for grinding ochre or mineral inclusions for pottery, or to give an edge
to metal implements. The traces of dots on anvils indicate that small metal objects
were worked on them.
Among the small finds from the settlements of the farming culture there are some
biconical clay or terracotta spindle whorls from the settlement of Kangurttut (Fig. 14,
the first three in the upper row) which are of the same type found in Tandyriul
(Vinogradova 1991: 83, fig. 6.36); biconical spindle whorls have been found also
in Sapalli Tepe and Djarkutan (Askarov 1977: pis. XXXIV-XXXV; Askarov &
Abdullaev 1983: pi. XLVI.20, 14-16, Kuzali phase; pis. LIV.S, 10-11, LV.1J, Molali
phase). Some other spindle whorls, in the shape of a shallow pierced disk, are often
obtained from a pottery sherd (Fig. 14, the last three in the second row, see also a
very ancient comparison from Sarazm (Isakov 1991: fig. 22, the last two rows, second
half of the 4th-beginning of the 3rd millennium B.C.). Other small conical, biconical
or ellipsoidal terracotta objects, which perhaps were handles of implements, have
been found in the necropolis of Tandyriul (Vinogradova 1991: 83, fig. 6.31-35).
In Kangurttut also some clay sling pellets in an elongated oval shape have been
found (Fig. 14, the last objects).
The study of the materials coming from these Southern Tajik sites allow us, in a
small extent, to try to understand some elements of the economy of the communities
which developed between the second half of the 2nd and the beginning of the 1st
Millennium, in the late Bronze-Early Iron Ages.
The people of the Sapalli culture practised agriculture, as it can be observed
considering the finds from the settlements in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, here
particularly the finds from Kangurttut include several agricultural implements such
as grinding stones and also a metal sickle.
The paleobothanic analysis of the ground in the levels of Kangurttut settlement
show the presence of various types of cereals like barley (Hordeum vulgare), wheat,
millet, flax (see Vinogradova, here, pp. [4], [10]).
The cattle and sheep breeding was also an important resource: in winter
shepherds kept their herds in the valleys among the mountain ranges, while during
the summer they used the pastures on the mountains; cattle, sheep, goats were bred,
bones of domestic dogs and even some bones of horse have also been found (see
Vinogradova, here, p. [10]).
Among the industries, like for example metal working, the documentation
suggests the existence of an intense interaction between sedentary people and
nomads: probably the metal industry was in the hands of the nomadic tribes. The
Andronovo populations or those related with Andronovo were, from their origin in
Siberia, traditionally specialized in metal trade and working; with the spreading of the
Andronovo tribes in Central Asia, a branch of them settled in Kazakhstan, an area
which was very rich in copper and tin ores. The analysis and the study of the metal
objects from the sites of Southern Tajikistan, particularly Tandyriul and Kangurttut,
110 [40]
/ 5-1 I I * fem
? (Sly >X7
Fig. 27 - Occasional finds from decayed burials: Nurek (nos. 1-2); the Hissar valley (no. 3); Sharshar
(no. 4); Arakcin (no. 5); Ramit (no. 6); Parkhar (nos. 7-8); the Kuljab valley - the Kuljab Museum
(no. 9); Kyzlar-Kala (nos. 10-14).
have revealed their relationship with the production of the site of Dal'Verzin in the
Fergana valley, with the metals of the Burgulyuk Culture in the oasis of Tashkent and
with the objects found in the necropolis of Chaka in the valley of the river Zeravshan
in central Uzbekistan. As the bronze objects from all these sites in Uzbekistan and
those from Southern Tajikistan, show some chimical differences from the Andronovo
bronzes from Kazakhstan, Kirghizia, Urals and Siberia although, like these, they are
also not arsenical but tin bronzes, it is possible that the tin source for the Fergana and
Zeravshan valleys and for the oasis of Tashkent was in this part of Central Asia and
that the Andronovo tribes which had settled in the Zeravshan valley, whose metals
were similar in composition to the objects from the mentioned Uzbek and Tajik sites,
acted as intermediaries between the northern regions, such as Kazakhstan and the
Fergana valley, where the metal sources were, and the Southern which exchanged
their agricultural products with metals (Ravich, forthcoming).
As we have already noticed, many implements and weapons among those
discovered at least in the settlement of Kangurttut were of Andronovian workmanship,
moreover two moulds have been found in the settlement: this means perhaps that the
Andronovo or 'steppe' objects that have been found did not necessarily come from an
exchange but were locally produced either by Andronovo people living in proximity
of the settlement (if not in the settlement itself) or also by the inhabitants themselves
using moulds of Andronovo type. This second hypothesis, however, looks less
probable: it seems difficult that blacksmiths used moulds belonging to another
metallurgic tradition. In any case, the analysis on Kangurttut bronzes, have shown
some particular carachteristics about the technology. We can at least hypothesize that
there was an intense exchange or even a division in the economy among farming and
nomadic tribes. The interaction between farming people and nomads can be observed
also in an Andronovo burial in Tandyriul (see above, pp. [6], [29]).
The pottery was locally made, at least in the settlement of Kangurttut, where some
kilns for pottery have been discovered in the settlement limit area. They were one near
the other, at a distance of 6 metres. One of them was badly damaged, all what remained
of it was the lower part, which had been dug lower in the ground, while the upper with
its mouth was lost. The other kiln was better preserved, it probably had a domed
structure, with an upper and a lower chamber: in the lower burnt the fuel, which, by its
heath and the following chemical reactions, baked the vessels. The type of bipartite
kiln is common in the wide area of the Namazga VI horizon (Vinogradova 1994: 36 and
fig. 6.4). The type of kiln with domed structure, with the lower part dug deep in the
ground, can be observed in Uzbekistan from the Sapalli phase in Sapalli Tepe (Askarov
1977: 36-38, figs. 10-11; Rahmanov 1979: 35-42; for kilns in Turkmenia see Sarianidi
1957; Masimov 1975: 9). What is important to stress is that the presence of these kilns
demonstrates that the settlement of Kangurttut produced pottery on its own and was
therefore autonomous. It would be interesting to investigate if this pattern of
production was repeated in the other settlements of the farming culture in Southern
Tajikistan. In Uzbekistan we know that the larger fortress-settlements like Sapalli Tepe
112 [42]
or Djarkutan had inside the fortress itself specialized production areas for the food, for
the pottery, the metalworking, the semi-precious stones working and, in general, for
the various kinds of handicrafts but this was characteristic of the larger settlements, we
know less about the smaller villages. For Southern Tajikistan, we have even less
documentation about the settlement typology and distribution. In any case Kangurttut,
with its autonomous industrial production and with its rather extended necropolis,
appears us as a settlement which could have had some importance in the territory,
although it was no more than a farming village.
Unfortunately, as I told before, too few settlements have been excavated up till
now in Southerf Tajikistan to draw a picture of the settlement pattern in this region.
Among the findings in the various sites of Sapalli culture in Southern Tajikistan are
beads or amulets in semiprecious stones, such as lapislazuli, turquoise, jasper, onyx and
other chalcedony varieties: this means that the farming communities of this area were
included in the routes of the long distance trade that brought these stones from their
sources (mainly Afghanistan for lapislazuli, the Kyzylkum desert for turquoise,
Northern India for the agates and chalcedony but also the Iranian plateau for other
stones) to the various regions of Central Asia and westward to the Iranian plateau and
to the Near Eastern countries (Herrman 1968:21-57; Lamberg-Karlovsky & Tosi 1973:
21-53; Kohl 1982:23-31; Casanova 1995:15-20; Lombardo 1998:49-53).
Judging from the findings in the necropolis of Tandyriul and, to a less extent, in
that of Kangurttut there was probably a social hierarchy: in both the cemeteries
there are burials that distinguish themselves for their richness or, at least for a
greater quantity of objects in the furniture. In Tandyriul the richest graves are
furnished with pottery, ornaments in semiprecious stones, miniature metal objects.
In some exceptional cases of burials probably belonging to particularly important
members of the community there are ritual objects like the small stone 'bactrian
column'. In the necropolis of Kangurttut where, instead, no ornaments or personal
objects have been found in the burials, the richest of them could be distinguished
because they were furnished with a great number of pottery vessels, some also with
miniature metal objects and two with the anthropomorphic figurines of unbaked
clay. This lack of life sized objects in the necropolis of Kangurttut and in the same
time the presence of their miniature metal reproductions might be connected to the
main character of the necropolis itself: the prevalence of the cenotaph burial (over
the 90% of the burials are cenotaphs): as the cenotaph in some way is rather the
memory of a burial, so again a memory of what in other cemeteries are the personal
items of the dead is in some of the Kangurttut burials. The cemeteries of Nurek
were too damaged to allow any hypothesis to be put forward, although the finding
of a pendent with turquoise (P'jankova 1981a: 309) let us think that rich furniture
could have been buried in some of the graves.
The necropolis of Kangurttut and those of Nurek constitute an example of the
trend followed by the Sapalli-Molali culture in Tajikistan: the majority of the burials
in the cemeteries of Nurek and Kangurttut are cenotaphs. From the disposition of
[43] 113
the furniture, mostly pottery vessels, in the burials it would appear as some place
had been left free for a corpse but, except few cases, in almost the burials there is
not any skeleton or even bones. In some burials there are animal bones as it was the
custom in the first examples of cenotaphs in the necropolis of Djarkutan, in the
phase having the same name, when an animal, usually a goat, was buried in the place
of the dead person (Shirinov & Baratov 1997: 118). The bones of a goat have been
also found in the only cenotaph discovered in Tandyriul (burial no. 2). The
difference in the burial customs among the cemeteries of Kangurttut and Nurek on
one side and that of Tandyriul with the contemporary Uzbek cemeteries of the
Molali phase on the other, consists in this general use of the cenotaph burial in the
first, while, particularly in the Uzbek cemeteries, the presence of cenotaphs increases
from Djarkutan to Molali-Bustan phases but never reaches a larger percentage than
17% (Shirinov & Baratov 1997: 118).
This difference in funerary rituals cannot be casual but it must be perhaps the
result of a change in the religious ideology, begun during the Kuzali phase in
Uzbekistan where, however, it never prevailed; later, during the Molali phase, with
the movements of part of the population eastward, the new ideology spread to
Tajikistan where, on the contrary, it became a general custom. This must have
happened not a long time after the arrival in Southern Tajikistan of the farming
people from Uzbekistan.
The necropolis of Tandyriul, where there is a prevalence of inhumation burials
and only two cenotaphs, must belong to a slightly more ancient period, perhaps
between the end of the Kuzali phase and the beginning of Molali. For what appears
of its funerary rites and for its grave furniture and perhaps also because of its
proximity to the Uzbek sites of the Surkhandarja valley, Tandyriul is culturally
nearer to the Uzbek aspect of the Sapalli civilization, while the cemeteries of
Kangurttut and Nurek, being later, show changed funerary usages with the cenotaph
custom fully developed and may represent what the Sapalli farming culture became
in Tajikistan.
(G.L.)
The Early Iron Age Monuments (Period Yaz I)
At the turn of the 2nd and 1st millennium B.C. in the southern regions of Central
Asia a new archaeological complex, represented by the material of Yaz I layer, is
documented. Its distinguishing feature is the presence of painted pottery. The latest
archaeological discoveries do not exclude a partial coexistence of archaeological
complexes of Namazga VI and Yaz I (Sagdullaev 1982). The most ancient finds of
iron objects were revealed in the settlement of Anau and, according to A.S.
Sagdullaev, can be placed in the 9th-7th centuries B.C. (Sagdullaev 1982: 233).
114 [44]
Fig. 28 - The settlement of Karim Berdy: 1. - the lay-out of the settlement; 2. - the 'A' trench: I - general
look, in the centre - the rectangular stone structure before cleaning; II - the rectangular structure after
cleaning - drawing of the outline and of the face. Conventional signs: 1 - stones, 2 - burnt soil and
pieces of baked daub (according to L. P'jankova).
[45] 115
Interesting results were achieved by Sh. Shaidulaev in the citadel of Djarkutan
where in the upper layers was found a bronze knife with iron rivets. The knife
belongs to the Djarkutan phase of the Sap alii culture, belonging to the 13 th century
B.C. according to the chronology used by the Russian archaeologists (Shaidullaev
1998: 39-41). Two iron objects come from the Bronze Age layers in the settlements
of Togolok 21 and Gonur (Sarianidi 1999: 68). Thus the most ancient finds of the
Iron Age in Central Asia can be dated to the 15th/13th century B.C.
In the South of Tajikistan the Yaz I layers are traced in the upper layers of the
settlements of Kangurttut and Teguzak (Vinogradova 1994; P'jankova 1987). In
Vosseisky district, the valley of the Kysylsu river, the settlement of Karim-Berdi was
discovered. The excavated layers can belong only to Yaz I Period (Vinogradova
1987: 76; P'jankova 1996: 195). It covers an area of 200 x 300 m; the monument is
situated on a natural hill (Fig. 28.1). It is surrounded from three sides by deep
ravines with streams flowing into the Shurak river (the tributary of the Kyzylsu).
Dwellings with stone based walls (Fig. 28.2), hearths, and storage pits (P'jankova
1996: 209, fig. 2). According to L.T. P'jankova the wheel-made ceramics makes up
62%. Pot-like vessels, deep bowls and 'khums' can be singled out (Fig. 29.6-7).
Pots, basins, spouted vessels with relief bands, jar lids with loop shaped handle are
typical of hand made pottery (Fig. 29). Painting occurs on the wheel thrown
pottery. It is represented only by a few fragments (Fig. 29.12-13); the design is
painted in dark red on the whitish-yellow surface. The ornament of inverted
triangles and angles occurs.
The closest analogies of Karim Berdy pottery material can be observed in the
sites of Yaz Depe, in the oasis of Murghab river, in the Early Iron Age, of Kuchuk
Depe I (Askarov & Al'baum 1979), Mirshadi (Pugachenkova 1972: 47-51) and in
the upper horizon of Djarkutan (Askarov 1976: 17 ff.) in Southern Uzbekistan, at
Tillya Tepe in Northern Afghanistan (Sarianidi 1972) and in the Chust culture of
Fergana (Zadneprovsky 1962). At Karim Berdy, unlike the above-said sites, painted
pottery is very rare. Vessels with handles and earthenware with black polishing,
which is typical of settlement of Afghanistan, is lacking. Among other finds, of
interest is a bronze celt-adze (Fig. 29.19) made of tin bronze where tin makes up
10%. Typologically M.N. Gryaznov considered these tools celts of the Karasuk
culture (Gryaznov 1941: 262). A celt similar to this was uncovered in Southern
Tajikistan at Kulip Tepe, near Regar, in a male inhumation (Kuz'mina 1966: pi. IV. 7).
G.V. Parfyonov places this find in the Bronze Age.
The absolute and relative chronology is a highly debatable question and subject
of discussion. For example, suffice it to say that the chronological limits for Yaz I are
placed from the 15th century B.C. (Kohl 1984: 230, pi. 2) to the 7th century B.C.
(Masson 1959: 108) (14). The absolute and relative chronology of the Early Iron Age
(14) See calibrated dates in Table 1. For Kuchuk Depe and Dal'verzin Depe.
116 [46]
Fig. 29 - The settlement of Karim Berdy: nos. 1-22 (according to N. Vinogradova); nos. 23-26.
(After L. P'jankova 1996).
[47] 117
monuments is directly connected with the division into periods of the Late Bronze
Age monuments which still exist or perhaps coexist with settlements of Yaz I type.
In our opinion the above said analogies of Karim Berdy settlement as compared
with other Bactrian monuments - Kangurttut, the upper stratum - make it possible
to place it into the latest 2nd-early 1st millennium B.C. The discovery of such
transitional sites, from Late Bronze to Early Iron Age, as Karim Berdy allows to
make things clear and to cast a new light on the general problem of the provenance
of the cultures with painted pottery in Central Asia which had existed at the
beginning of the Early Iron Age.
(N.M.V.)
The following conclusions can be drawn about the above-said monuments of the
Late Bronze Age in Southern Tajikistan. Certain conformity to natural laws in
settling of farming communities and 'steppe' tribes can be seen. Foothills, mountain
valleys, high river terraces were the areas where the farming communities settled,
only in some cases burials of the 'steppe' cultures occur there.
Farming settlements in South Tajikistan are connected with waves of migrant
groups coming from South-eastern regions of Southern Uzbekistan in the later
stages of the Sapalli culture - Molali-Bustan. The spread of these monuments
coincides with ancient caravan ways - from the Surkhan-Darja valley to the Hissar
valley as far as Dushanbe (the present geographic names), then via Faizabad on the
river Ilyak as far as Nurek and via the Gulizindonsky pass to Kangurt-Kuljab. It
should be said that the south-western Tajikistan is rich in salt: domes of pure salt rise
in the landscape (Khodjamunin and Khodjasartis). In ancient times these caravan
ways could be used as trade routes. But this is just a working hypothesis.
In the process of adaptation to a new ecological niche the transformation of a
cultural tradition takes place. It becomes apparent in the building of stone houses
and in the arrangement of burial structures. Also the 'poverty' of archaeological
finds in the late stages of the Sapalli culture is quite obvious thinking that these later
stages take place in a period of changes and gradual migration: for example, burials
contains only votive objects and there are no seals and works of art or of handicraft
with the exception of the bracelets from Parkhar. The use of cenotaphs appear in the
burial ritual at a certain moment, perhaps between the Kuzali and the Molali phase,
increases in Uzbekistan to a certain extent and is widespread in some cemeteries of
Southern Tajikistan (Vinogradova, p. [15]; Lombardo, pp. [43]-[44]).
The presence of the Andronovo population can be confirmed not only by
monuments of Andronovo culture (Vinogradova 2001: 204) but also by finds:
Andronovo pottery, metal objects that in their shape and chemical composition are
of Andronovo type. The presence of casting moulds in farming settlements gives
reason to believe that the metal processing took place there (see G. Lombardo, here,
118 [48]
p. [42]; Ravich, forthcoming). In their work foundry men used bronze with a low tin
content which is typical of the metal object of the 'steppe' tribes of Southern
Tajikistan and of the Zeravshan valley (Ravich, forthcoming).
The interaction between nomads and sedentary people brought to the settling
and to the subsequent assimilation of the inhabitants of the steppes among the
farming population. Such examples can be found in the ethnography of Southern
Tajikistan (Karmisheva 1976: 259). It is not a case that here this exchange between
farming populations and nomadic tribes may have given birth in the Late Bronze
Age to the mixed culture of Beshkent-Vakhsh, although the participation of the
farming people to its formation is still a matter of debate. In any case close contacts
of the farming people with the bearers of the Beshkent-Vakhsh culture are also
documented by the presence of burials of this culture in the graveyards of the
farming culture as well as finds of Molali pottery in monuments of the Beshkent
Vakhsh (Mandel'shtam 1968: pi. XIV; P'jankova 1986: figs. 59-60).
Even after a necessarily brief analysis such as this, a picture of the relation of the
Southern Tajik sites in the Molali phase with the mother culture of Sapalli in
Uzbekistan can be traced. Considering the various aspects of the material culture
and particularly the ceramic production we can observe that Tandyriul shows to be
still bound to the older phases of the Uzbek area of the culture and this can be
observed not only in the pottery production but also in other cultural aspects, as in
the funerary rituals that are different from those which can be reconstructed from
the grave finds in Kangurttut. If Tandyriul appears earlier and more linked to the
Uzbek aspect of the Sapalli culture in comparison to the sites of the upper Vakhsh
reaches, like Nurek, Teguzak, Kangurttut, Dakhana, these show to be connected to
the second part of Molali and to the Bustan phases and moreover to be closely
related to each other in the pottery production. We can therefore consider these
sites as being part of a unique aspect of the Sapalli culture, the aspect it took as it
spread to Southern Tajikistan. They are still more meaningful because they show
how the North Bactrian culture of Sapalli could change once that the populations
moved from the original nucleus to other regions where there were other dynamics
of peopling and interaction with the nomad tribes: although the main cultures that
occupied Southern Tajikistan at the end of the 2nd millennium are quite distinct
from each other, they show nevertheless the trace of this interaction in every aspect
of the material culture.
(N.M.V. & G.L.)
[49] 119
Table 1 - Some C14 dates for Namazga V-VI sites
Sites #lab. 5568 B.P. 5730 B.C. Calib - 3 Cultural assn.
Altyn Depe LE-770 4660?50 2850+50 IE cal BC 3506 Namazga V

21 cal BC3620 Early
LE-716 4120?100 2295?105 IS cal BC 2877 Namazga V
21 cal BC2913 Early
BL-717 4025?100 2195?105 II cal BC 2852 Namazga V
21 cal BC 2879 Early
LE-1048 3770+50 1935?50 II cal BC 2277 Namazga V
21 cal BC 2330
LE-1097 3540?80 1695?80 II cal BC 1960 Namazga V
21 cal BC2122
LE-767 3140+60 1285?60 II cal BC 1443 Namazga V
Dashli 1 LE-975 3520?45 1675?45 HcalBC 1889 Namazga V
21 cal BC 1946 Bronze Age
Dashli 2 LE-977 3340+45 1490?45 II cal BC 1679 Namazga V
21 calBC 1738 Bronze Age
Dashli 3 LE-1253 4060?70 2230?70 II cal BC 2853 Namazga V
21 cal BC 2191
LE-978 3440?50 1595?50 HcalBC 1860 Namazga V
21 cal BC 1882
LE-1251 3250?40 1400+40 II cal BC 1525 Namazga V
21 cal BC 1615
LE-1175 3066?70 1260+70 II cal BC 1408 Namazga V
21 cal BC 1492
Djarkutan Beta-33557 3550?70 1705+70 HcalBC 1961 Namazga VI

21 cal BC2114
Gonur Depe Beta-33563 3630?60 1790+60 II cal BC2113 Namazga V
Kremel 21 cal BC2141
Gonur Depe Beta-33558 4360?60 2440?60 II cal BC3037 Namazga V

North 21 cal BC 3262
continued
120 [50]
Continue Table 1
Sites #lab. 5568 B.P. 5730 B.C. Calib - 3 Cultural assn.
Beta-33560 3600?60 1760?60 IX cal BC 2027 Namazga V

2X cal BC2133
2X cal BC2133
21 cal BC
2X cal BC 1749
Gonur Depe Beta-33562 3730?60 1890+60 IX cal BC2197 Namazga VI

South 2X cal BC 2290
Hissar Tune-20 3483?63 1635?65 IX 1883 Hissar III C
2X 1945 Late
Namazga Depe LE-665 3030?60 1170?60 IX cal BC 1387 Namazga VI
2X cal BC 1416
Sap alii Depe LE-916 3640+90 1800+95 IX cal BC2135 Transitional

2X cal BC 2277 Namazga V-VI
LE-1078 3450?50 1605?50 IX cal BC 1869 Namazga V-VI
2X cal BC 1885
Shortugai MC-1730 3640?95 1800+100 IX cal BC2136 Period IV

2X cal BC 2281 Bishkent culture
NY-421 3535+165 1690+70 IX cal BC2120 Period IV

2X cal BC 2322 Bishkent culture
Tigrovaia Balka LE-715 3350?60 1500?60 IX cal BC 1731 Vakhsh culture

2X cal BC 1749
Togolok 21 Beta-33564 3460?100 1615+105 IX cal BC Namazga VI

2X cal BC 2027
Ulug Depe LE-1098 3910+50 2075?50 IX cal BC 2464 Namazga V

2X calBC 1885
LE-1096 3500+50 1655?50 IX cal BC 1885 Namazga V
2X cal BC 1938
LE-980 3280?95 1430?100 IX cal BC 1676 Namazga VI
2X cal BC 1749 Early
Kuchuk Depe LE-773 2850+50 985+50 IX cal BC 1046 Early Iron Age
2X cal BC 1154 YazI
DaPverzin LE-323 3050?120 1190+125 IX cal BC 1424 Early Iron Age
Lower 2X cal BC 1525 YazI
According to L. Possehl 1994
[51] 121
ABBREVIATIONS
AMIT = Archaeologische Mitteilungen aus Iran und Turan. Deutsches Archaeologisches Institut.
Berlin.
ART = Archeologiceskie raboty v Tadzikistane. Dusanbe.
AVA Materialien = Materialien zur Allgemeinen und Vergleichenden Archaeologie. M?nchen.
KSIIMK = Kratkie soobscenija o dokladach i polevych issledovanijach Instituta istorii material'noj
kul'tury AN SSSR. Moskva.
MDOG = Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft zu Berlin. Berlin.
SAI = Svod archeologiceskych istochnikov. Moskva.
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Farming Sites in Southern Tajikistan from Late Bronze to Early Iron Ages

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Farming Sites in Southern Tajikistan from Late Bronze to Early Iron Ages

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Farming Sites of the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages in Southern Tajikistan

Author(s): Natalia M. Vinogradova and Giovanna Lombardo

Fig. 2 - The general view of the site of Kangurttut.

The Hissar Valley

(3) P.T. Samolik's excavations are not published.

a 0 Fig. 3 - The necropolis of Tandlyriul. Burial 2.

Fig. 4 - The necropolis of Tandyriul. A stone column and a weight.

anthropology the dead can be referred to European Eastern Mediterranean type

(5) A large percentage of tin (14%) is noteworthy (Vinogradova 1991: 85-86).

The Upper Reaches of the Vakhsh Valley

the excavated dwelling (reconstruction by N. Baimatova). The elongated proportion

The Material Culture of the Farming Sites in Southern Tajikistan

The Pottery (Figs. 3.2-10, 5, 12, 21.3-12, 223-6, 25, 28.2-11)

Fig. 15 - The settlement of Kangurttut: 1-2

Fig. 18 - The necropolis of Kangurttut. The la

is documented in Bustan (P'jankova 1988: 254

The Metal Objects (Figs. 7, 15, 25)

Fig. 22 - The necropolis of Kangurttut. Burial 26.

The Early Iron Age Monuments (Period Yaz I)

(N.M.V. & G.L.)

Sites #lab. 5568 B.P. 5730 B.C. Calib - 3 Cultural assn.

Altyn Depe LE-770 4660?50 2850+50 IE cal BC 3506 Namazga V

Djarkutan Beta-33557 3550?70 1705+70 HcalBC 1961 Namazga VI

Gonur Depe Beta-33558 4360?60 2440?60 II cal BC3037 Namazga V

Sites #lab. 5568 B.P. 5730 B.C. Calib - 3 Cultural assn.

Beta-33560 3600?60 1760?60 IX cal BC 2027 Namazga V

Gonur Depe Beta-33562 3730?60 1890+60 IX cal BC2197 Namazga VI

Sap alii Depe LE-916 3640+90 1800+95 IX cal BC2135 Transitional

Shortugai MC-1730 3640?95 1800+100 IX cal BC2136 Period IV

NY-421 3535+165 1690+70 IX cal BC2120 Period IV

Tigrovaia Balka LE-715 3350?60 1500?60 IX cal BC 1731 Vakhsh culture

Togolok 21 Beta-33564 3460?100 1615+105 IX cal BC Namazga VI

Ulug Depe LE-1098 3910+50 2075?50 IX cal BC 2464 Namazga V

According to L. Possehl 1994

Amiet, P. (1961) La Glyptique mesopotamienne archaique. Paris.

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