Gonur Depe

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Gonur Depe (translated: Gray Hill) is a settlement from the Bronze Age in the Karakum Desert and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site . The excavation site is about 80 kilometers from the city of Mary in south-east Turkmenistan .

structure

A mighty ring of walls was found in Gonur Depe, which encloses a 28- hectare urban complex. This is divided into different districts, for example residential areas, craft districts and extensive cemeteries. In the center of the city complex is a square palace complex , which was surrounded by another wall ring. Striking buildings in the Bronze Age metropolis were grave houses, in which dignitaries were buried with sumptuous gifts, often masterpieces of Bronze Age art. At the time of the Bronze Age, agriculture was possible in the now dry region, as the Murgab River ran through its inland delta Brought water into the desert, which was collected by the inhabitants through an elaborate system of pipes.

meaning

Gonur Depe is now considered the most important site in a series of settlements of various sizes near oases in the Karakum Desert. It is believed that Gonur Depe was inhabited for 700 years, longer than any other place in the Gonur Oasis. The excavations indicate that Gonur Depe was an administrative and religious center in the region, so Gonur Depe is now considered the center of a previously largely unknown high culture, the Margiana culture.

Excavations

The first excavations took place as early as the 1950s, and systematic exploration of the site began with the work of Professor Viktor Sarianidi from 1972 to 1974. Area excavations have been taking place in and around Gonur Depe since 1988 and continue to this day. Despite the many years of excavations in the region, the structure of the settlement is still unclear. The archaeologists found two separate settlements, Gonur-North and Gonur-South. It is unclear to what extent the sites formed a unit in the Bronze Age. However, there was evidence of a pronounced long-distance trading activity of the people in Gonur Depe, who among other things with peoples in Mesopotamia , Syria , Oman , the Indus Valley and the Urals .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gonur depe. A newly discovered Bronze Age high culture - The Murghabo-Bactrian cultural complex of Central Asia, 2300-1600 BC Chr. | infoclio.ch. Retrieved August 2, 2018 .
  2. ^ National Museums in Berlin: Margiana. A Kingdom of the Bronze Age in Turkmenistan. Retrieved August 2, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Berthold Seewald: Archeology sensation: Palaces and human sacrifices of an unknown high culture . In: THE WORLD . April 29, 2018 ( welt.de [accessed August 2, 2018]).
  4. ↑ Urban development and land use in Gonur Depe, Turkmenistan. November 20, 2017. Retrieved August 2, 2018 .

Coordinates: 38 ° 12 ′ 36 ″  N , 62 ° 2 ′ 6 ″  E