The findings discovered by the joint Turkmen-Russian archeological expedition at the unique monument of the Eneolithic Age (Copper-Stone Age) – Yylgynly-depe located on the territory of the Abiverd State Historical and Cultural Reserve in Ahal Velayat caused the world sensation. The unique complex of the material culture of the Turkmen people’s ancestors – specialized workshop for production of small clay statues that existed over 7,000 years ago was discovered there.
The expedition that is a joint project of the National Department of Turkmenistan on Preservation, Study and Restoration of the Monuments of History and Culture and the Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences has worked for more than 10 years. In her interview to the State Agency of Turkmenistan (TDH), the head of the expedition, famous Russian archeologist Natalya Solovyeva emphasized that Yylgynly-depe was one of the most important cultural centres of the Ancient East of the V-IV BC.
According to N. Solovyeva the new materials discovered during the excavations of the 2014 autumn season will change our ideas about the epoch of the first farmers in the world, the material, social and spiritual environment of their settlements in Central Asia and Middle East. This was a result of the long-term researches on the territory of the settlement, providing the valuable data that allows characterizing the culture of the agricultural community of the Eneolithic Age of South Turkmenistan.
The complex discovered by archeologists includes a workshop, a facility for drying articles, a room with a clay-burning oven and a big yard, in the centre of which a low construction of a dastarkhan type was located that served as a potters’ working place. The northeastern corner of the workshop was used for storing clay. A brick rectangular container that was filled with ash and used for drying finished products was attached to the west wall of the workshop.
The room with a clay-burning oven was perfectly preserved. The floor and walls were painted black. Doorway with a high threshold was closed with a door placed on a rotating axis. The oven, which was used for burning statues depicting animals and people, was attached to the wall to the left of the entrance. It has remained in a height of about one meter. In the northern corner of the room, the archeologists found a huge ceramic vessel-hum with the capacity of approximately 100 litres that was covered with ornamental words. Potters dumped ash from the furnace into the vessel (as is known, people in ancient times considered ash and everything connected with fire sacred). Two raw round columns dyed black were placed between the vessel and the oval container. A clay square table on low curly legs was found in the center of the room.
The complex found by archeologists is not only the sensation in the Middle Eastern and the world prehistoric archeology, but a discovery that will entail significant changes in historians’ ideas about the social structure of the ancient society because now there are evidences proving that our ancestors produced goods for the needs of the whole community in the settlement, that is the division of labor and the presence of crafts in this early period.
All findings were handed over to the Museum of Fine Arts of Turkmenistan, the special exposition of which showcases the works of art of the ancient masters of Yylgynly-depe, ancient ancestors of the Turkmen people, who lived more than seven thousands years ago.
The expedition that is a joint project of the National Department of Turkmenistan on Preservation, Study and Restoration of the Monuments of History and Culture and the Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences has worked for more than 10 years. In her interview to the State Agency of Turkmenistan (TDH), the head of the expedition, famous Russian archeologist Natalya Solovyeva emphasized that Yylgynly-depe was one of the most important cultural centres of the Ancient East of the V-IV BC.
According to N. Solovyeva the new materials discovered during the excavations of the 2014 autumn season will change our ideas about the epoch of the first farmers in the world, the material, social and spiritual environment of their settlements in Central Asia and Middle East. This was a result of the long-term researches on the territory of the settlement, providing the valuable data that allows characterizing the culture of the agricultural community of the Eneolithic Age of South Turkmenistan.
The complex discovered by archeologists includes a workshop, a facility for drying articles, a room with a clay-burning oven and a big yard, in the centre of which a low construction of a dastarkhan type was located that served as a potters’ working place. The northeastern corner of the workshop was used for storing clay. A brick rectangular container that was filled with ash and used for drying finished products was attached to the west wall of the workshop.
The room with a clay-burning oven was perfectly preserved. The floor and walls were painted black. Doorway with a high threshold was closed with a door placed on a rotating axis. The oven, which was used for burning statues depicting animals and people, was attached to the wall to the left of the entrance. It has remained in a height of about one meter. In the northern corner of the room, the archeologists found a huge ceramic vessel-hum with the capacity of approximately 100 litres that was covered with ornamental words. Potters dumped ash from the furnace into the vessel (as is known, people in ancient times considered ash and everything connected with fire sacred). Two raw round columns dyed black were placed between the vessel and the oval container. A clay square table on low curly legs was found in the center of the room.
The complex found by archeologists is not only the sensation in the Middle Eastern and the world prehistoric archeology, but a discovery that will entail significant changes in historians’ ideas about the social structure of the ancient society because now there are evidences proving that our ancestors produced goods for the needs of the whole community in the settlement, that is the division of labor and the presence of crafts in this early period.
All findings were handed over to the Museum of Fine Arts of Turkmenistan, the special exposition of which showcases the works of art of the ancient masters of Yylgynly-depe, ancient ancestors of the Turkmen people, who lived more than seven thousands years ago.
