Artifacts, which threw light on formerly unknown pages of the region’s history, became the results of regular excavations held during the last two months by specialists of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan.
It was discovered a flint plate, a small piece of flint-flake and numerous fragments of decorated ceramic vessels. Ceramic material decorated with various geometrical ornaments reminds the articles of late Stone Age. Specialist from the German Archeological Institute Professor Nikolaous Boroffka gave a great help in determination of date of the discovered ceramics. It was defined that ceramics found in Dashly-depe belongs to the 5th century B.C.
As the head of the expedition, head of the department of primordial, antique and medieval archeology of Turkmenistan Aydogdy Kurbanov notes, ancient agriculture existed at the foothills of Kopetdag. This narrow fertile zone of land abundantly supplied with water of numerous small rivers and rivulets of Kopetdag was started to be developed from the end of the Mesolithic and at the beginning of the late Stone Age by the people, who came here from the Eastern Caspian region. Numerous monuments as Jeytun, Chopan-depe, Pessejik-depe and others are vivid evidence of it. In the late Stone Age and Bronze Age, practically whole foothill is developed; correspondingly, the number of settlements of early farmers increased. The Dashly-depe monument also belongs to the aforementioned memorials.
Archeologists intend to carry out some more field seasons at Dashly-depe in order to fix its cultural strata, to take stock of artifacts, and specify chronology of the monument. Interesting materials, belonging to the earlier neolithic period, can be in lower strata of the monument. They will help to study in detail the stages of history not only of Dashly-Depe but also the foothill zone of Turkmenistan in whole.
It was discovered a flint plate, a small piece of flint-flake and numerous fragments of decorated ceramic vessels. Ceramic material decorated with various geometrical ornaments reminds the articles of late Stone Age. Specialist from the German Archeological Institute Professor Nikolaous Boroffka gave a great help in determination of date of the discovered ceramics. It was defined that ceramics found in Dashly-depe belongs to the 5th century B.C.
As the head of the expedition, head of the department of primordial, antique and medieval archeology of Turkmenistan Aydogdy Kurbanov notes, ancient agriculture existed at the foothills of Kopetdag. This narrow fertile zone of land abundantly supplied with water of numerous small rivers and rivulets of Kopetdag was started to be developed from the end of the Mesolithic and at the beginning of the late Stone Age by the people, who came here from the Eastern Caspian region. Numerous monuments as Jeytun, Chopan-depe, Pessejik-depe and others are vivid evidence of it. In the late Stone Age and Bronze Age, practically whole foothill is developed; correspondingly, the number of settlements of early farmers increased. The Dashly-depe monument also belongs to the aforementioned memorials.
Archeologists intend to carry out some more field seasons at Dashly-depe in order to fix its cultural strata, to take stock of artifacts, and specify chronology of the monument. Interesting materials, belonging to the earlier neolithic period, can be in lower strata of the monument. They will help to study in detail the stages of history not only of Dashly-Depe but also the foothill zone of Turkmenistan in whole.
