Stančo 2010_North-western Bactria in the Late Antiquity

North-western Bactria in the Late Antiquity

Ashkhabat, November 10-11 2010 Ladislav Stančo

North-western Bactria in the Late

Antiquity

Ladislav Stančo

Charles University in Prague, CZ

Archaeological and Ethnological Sciences of Turkmenistan in the Epoch of new Revival and the Great Transformation:

progress milestones and new perspectives

Ashkhabat, November 10-11 2010



ObjectivesThe aim of this paper is to trace main features of material

culture in north and north-western parts of ancient Bactria

i.e. in modern terms:Sherabad oasis of Surkhan Darya province, Uzbekistan

middle reaches of the Amu Darya in Lebap province, Turkmenistan

PERIOD:

Late Antiquity (2nd half of 3rd c. – 1st half of 5th c. AD)

The substantial changes in qualitative changes in craftsand production of this area will be characterized and

analyzed



Available data

• The basic data set for this analysis represents:

– Material from the Czech-Uzbek archaeological excavations on

the site of Jandavlattepa in Sherabad district in Surkhandarya

province, southern Uzbekistan

– Material and data from recent systematic field survey of

Sherabad Oasis as a whole

– Material and data from earlier systematic survey of middle

reaches of Amu Darya (V. I. Pilipko)



Northern and Northwestern Bactria



Satellite image



• The site is located in an

intensely irrigated and

cultivated plain close to

the shallow riverbed of

the Sherabad River

• 7.67 km from the town

of Sherabad

• The site commands the

area being strategically

well located only 10km

from the outflow where

the Sherabad River

leaves the mountains



View from south

View from north



Jandavlattepa • 72,820 sq. m

• Shakhristan – upper surface 40,203 sq. m; Citadel – upper surface 920 sq. m.

• Maximum length SE to NW: 416 m

• Maximum length NE to SW: 341 m

• The height of the citadel is 20 m

• the height of the shakhristan varies between 12 and 18 m

• The highest point, the top of the citadel, lies at an elevation of 378.4 m above sea level



Sector 20 - Citadel



Middle reaches of Amu Darya



Kushan-Sasanian

contexts• In the text part (p. 94)

• 1. Chopli-Depe (no.22) strata9-10

• 2. Mirzabek-Kala (no.25) strata 9-10

• 3. Khatab-Kala (no.23)stratum 4

• 4. Ak-Depe Burguchinskoe (no.16) strata 3-4

• 5. Shor-Depe Mukrinskoe (no.27) surface layer

• In the catalogue (p. 171ff)

• Besh-kala, no.1

• Shor-depe (Kizil-Baydak), no.2

• Geok-depe, no.3

• Shor-depe III, no.6

• Omar-kala, no.8

• Sakar-kala, no.9

• Russkaya krepostʼ, no.12

• Kuregen-kala, no.13

• Ak-depe (Burguchi), no.15

• Ak-depe, no. 17

• No name, no. 20

• Deshikli-depe, no.21

• Chopli-depe, no.22

• Khatab-kala, no.23

• Mukry-kala, no.24

• Mirzabek-kala, no.25

• Shor-depe, no.26

• Shor-Depe (Ulamskoe), no.27

• Kum-depe, no.28

• Pulʼtapdy-depe, no.29

• Munchak-depe, no.31

• Krepostʼ Kelif, no.35



Sites - overview

• MIDDLE REACHES OF AMU DARYA:

• 35 sites listed by Pilipko

• 22 (63%!) is possible to date to Kushan-Sasanian period

• SHEARABD OASIS (or district)

• ca. 130 sites (including burial grounds)

• 80 precisely dated

• 23 (18% of total number) dates to Kushan-Sasanian period



Ceramics

• First of all we will

evaluate ceramics

(from the

morphological as well

as decorative point of

view)



Chopli-depe

Jandavlattepa



Khumcha – storage jar

Chopli-depe

Mirzabek-kala

Jandavlattepa



Kushan-Sasanian ceramics



Two-storey lamps

Chopli-depe

Jandavlattepa

Khatab-kala

More examples:

Jiga-Tepe (central Bactria), dated to the

Kushan-Sasanian period by Pidaev

Dalverzintepa (Surkhan Darya), dated to

Great-Kushan period by Pugachenkova

Kushan period



Clay figurines / appliques



Coins, chronology

• M.R.A.:

• Late Kushan coins:

14 (23%)

• Kushan-Sasanian: 20

(33%)

• In total: 66% of all

coins

Vasudeva II

Copper/bronze coins are in very bad state

of preservation

They are small and thin

Very often are illegible



Architecture

• Pilipko (p. 97): "Among the known data on the construction and

architecture of Kushan-Sasanian period there is no evidence for

changes or new approaches compare to Kushan period.„

• Our research (Jandavlattepa) shows different picture:

– Size of mud bricks in Kushan period 32x32x11-12cm (predominant)

– Size of mud bricks in Kushan-Sasanian period 40-41x40-41x10cm

(predominant)

– Quality of mud-bricks is getting worse

– Quality of structures is worse



Bricks

• common type was a square mud-brick measuring 40 x 40 x 10cm

• varied between 38 x 38 and 41 x 41cm.

• consisted of sloppily floated clay

• brick itself seemed to be badly, perhaps insufficiently, sun-dried

• In consequence, the quality of the product was very low

• Similarly, the walls made of these mud-bricks were usually of lesser quality

• The eroded mud-bricks were friable and looked like grit

• The mudbricks of this size (40 x 40 x 10-11 cm) occur however in case of Dal´verzintepa predominantly in contexts of 1st -2nd c. AD

Interstices up to 10 cm



Square 20Y



Conlusion

• In all these features one can observe gradual degradation or even leap down in evolution:– clay for ceramics are poorly floated

– pottery itself badly fired

– Quality of coins is lessened

– quality of mud bricks is lessened

– the same goes for masonry and architecture in general

• From the above mentioned particular phenomena is possible to conclude some general characteristics of material culture in given period and to sketch in the incomplete picture of history and culture of this period which was preserved to us by scarce literary evidence

• The development is similar in both studied regions



Thank you for your attention !!

Stančo 2010_North-western Bactria in the Late Antiquity

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