Activités archéologiques françaises au Turkménistan
Abstracts
Created in 2001, MAFTur (the Franco-Turkmen Archaeological Mission) has for objective the exploration of the site of Ulug Depe, occupied in the Neolithic (only evidenced by sherds) and proto-historic (Chalcolithic, Early to Late Bronze Age, Early to Middle Iron Age) periods. Its stratigraphy demonstrates that Ulugh Depe has the longest cultural sequence in Central Asia. Ten campaigns of excavation have been conducted so far, addressing the formative phase of the Oxus Civilisation, as well as the identification of regional particularities, thanks to the delineation of the material of the Early and Middle Bronze of the Eastern foothills of the Kopet Dagh, and the identification of regional particularities. The work also aims to characterise the material culture of the pre-“Median” period by the excavation of the only urban complex yet known of this period (Yaz II) in Central Asia. The plan of the Yaz II citadel is now complete; other monumental constructions are in the course of excavation (‘Treasury’, ‘Palatial Complex’, etc.). We have been able to confirm, apart from the relationship to Iranian forts in the Zagros, the presence of a markedly hierarchical and structured administration, thanks to the find of numerous stamp seal impressions, two centuries before the establishment of the Median culture in Western Iran.
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Bibliographical reference
Olivier Lecomte, “Activités archéologiques françaises au Turkménistan ”, Cahiers d’Asie centrale, 21/22 | 2013, 165-190.
Electronic reference
Olivier Lecomte, “Activités archéologiques françaises au Turkménistan ”, Cahiers d’Asie centrale [Online], 21/22 | 2013, Online since 30 September 2014, connection on 14 June 2026. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/asiecentrale/1795
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