In the footsteps of Euthydemus. Preliminary report for archaeological survey in the Baysun District (South Uzbekistan), Season 2018
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STUDIA HERCYNIA XXIII/1, 141–172 In the footsteps of Euthydemus. Preliminary report for archaeological survey in the Baysun District (South Uzbekistan), Season 2018 Ladislav Stančo– Shapulat Shaydullaev– Odiljon Khamidov– Anna Augustinová– Ladislav Damašek– Tomáš Bek– Matěj Kmošek ABSTRACT The extensive archaeological surface survey conducted by the Czech -Uzbek team in the Baysun Mountains (south Uzbekistan) that started in spring 2017 continued ayear later, in April and May 2018. Its aim was to detect archaeological sites of the Hellenistic period, as well as to verify the dating and interpretation of already known settlements in the given district and thus to extend and refine the archaeological map of Southern Uzbekistan. This report brings basic overview of the thus gained archaeological data. KEYWORDS Baysun Mountains; Darband Wall; surface survey; Bactria; Hellenistic period. INTRODUCTION Resuming the effort of the spring field season 2017, the Czech -Uzbek archaeological team continued in April and May 2018 the extensive surface surveys in the surroundings of the village of Darband, Baysun District, south Uzbekistan. Our approach was based on the field walking methods developed in the seasons of 2014–2016 during the survey in the Pashkhurt Valley of the same province (Stančoetal. 2015; Stančo 2016). Apart from the systematic survey of selected micro regions– typically small oases in the local river valleys– we also targeted several sites that were already known to archaeologists (e.g. Munchak Tepa(s) in Kofrun, Kapchigay in Darband), some of them even partly (Payon Kurgan) or fully (Kurganzol) excavated in the recent past, if the data on them had been insufficient for proper historical evaluation. The principal goal of the whole two -years -long project was to verify some of the hypotheses of various scholars concerning the exact route of Alexander the Great’sarmy during his Central Asian campaign, and places of related events according to written accounts, as well as to reveal as much as chrono -spatial data on the Hellenistic (or Seleucid and Greco -Bactrian) period in the study region, as possible. Doing so, however, our team documented every archaeological site or anthropogenic feature that we came across without discrimination. This report aims to present an overview of the gained data complemented with only very preliminary historical interpretations.
142 STUDIA HERCYNIA XXIII/1 OBJECTIVES AND METHODS As in the previous field season, our research objectives stemmed from the principal aim of two -year project ‘On the Oxyartes’ Mountain: detection of forts and refuges of the Alexander the Great period.’ Again, we focused on verification of hypotheses of reputable scholars concerning identification of specific geographic features in the Baysun District and its closest neighbourhood as places where particular historical events connected with Alexander the Great’scampaign took place. Unlike in the season 2017, we decided to visit more of foothill valley oases and to survey them in amore systematic way. During the extensive survey, all surface pottery was collected, GPS localised, and further analysed, topographic anomalies were documented, and in selected places/areas the metal detector survey was applied on erosive slopes of the presumed archaeological sites. The pottery processing, carried out by Anna Augustinová and Ladislav Damašek, was supervised by Shapulat Shaydullaev. The metal detector survey including further documentation of the finds was entrusted to Tomáš Bek. The metal finds were conserved later during the autumn field season by Matěj Kmošek (Archaeological Institute, Brno), who performed also composition analysis of selected objects. The numerous coin finds were preliminarily identified by Ladislav Stančo (Hellenistic coins) and are further studied and will be published by Jiří Militký (Hellenistic coins) and Vlastimil Novák (Post -Hellenistic coins), both of National Museum, Prague. It should be kept in mind that the archaeological material presented in this report represents only an illustrative selection of the gained assemblage (of both ceramics and metal objects), the majority of which will be published in the final report of the archaeological works in the Baysun District. Coins are planned to be published in aseparate article. Fig. 1: Landscape in the foothills of Baysun Tau, mountain of Ketman Chapty on the left.
143STANČO– SHAYDULLAEV– KHAMIDOV– AUGUSTINOVÁ– DAMAŠEK– BEK– KMOŠEK RESEARCH AREA The research area we focused on, being itself situated generally in the Baysun District of the Surkhan Darya province, was in its geographical extent basically the same in this second season as in the previous one (see Pl. 5/1).1 Unlike in 2017, though, we turned our attention towards the foothill steppe landscape and mountain valleys rather than to their summits and higher plateaus that were studied with rather negative results previously. We stuck with the distribution and numbering of the Survey Areas as it was already established in 2017:2 1. Sarymas 2. Machay Darya valley 3. Susiztag 4. Alamli 5. Darband village 6. Sairob– Rabat Steppe Zone. The last one could have been further split into the right bank zone of the Sherabad Darya and its left bank, along with the river valley itself, but we decided to keep this topographically homogenous piedmont steppe zone as awhole from Sairob in the west to the villages of Pulkhakim and Pudina in the east. To these we newly added other relevant micro -regions: 7. Akrabat– Kapkagli Auzy (Dekhkanabad District, Kashka Darya Province) 8. Kichik Ura Darya (vicinity of the Bilibaily Village, Dekhkanabad District, Kashka Darya Province). 9. Panjob Valley In an attempt to verify some of the previous dating, we also visited selected sites outside the above defined geographic region (i.e. Kyz Kurgan Mountain close to the village of Sina, Shurchi; several sites around the town of Sherabad; all Surkhan Darya Province). Thus, our research touched to various degree the territories of the villages of Akrabat, Bilibayli, Chashma- -e Miran, Chilonzor, Daganajam, Darband, Dashtigaz, Inkabod, Khatak, Khoja Bulgan, Khoja Dagyak, Kofrun, Loylagan, Machay, Podang, Pudina, Pul’khakim, Panjob, Rabat, Sairob, Sina, Sherabad, and Toda. PREVIOUS RESEARCH As the previous research was discussed in detail in the first report of this project (Stančoetal. 2018, 136–138), we limit ourselves here only to some necessary addenda, omissions, and clarifications. Resuming the long tradition of the Palaeolithic and Neolithic research in southern Uzbekistan, in 2015 the Japanese -Uzbekistani team started excavations of arock -shelter at the north -eastern foot of Sarymas(k) mountain (accessible through anarrow gorge from the Machay Darya ravine) at the site of Kainar Kamar, and at the same time conducted surface survey of the vicinity of Machay Village targeting predominantly caves and rock -shelters 1 All maps in the report are prepared by L. Stančo, pottery was drawn by L. Damašek and A. Augustinová, metallic finds were documented by M. Kmošek. Photographs were taken by L. Stančo unless otherwise stated. 2 The division into these sub -regions may seem arbitrary, but it is based on specific topography of the individual zones that might have some implications for the density and function of their settlements. This assumption was to be verified by the gained data.
144 STUDIA HERCYNIA XXIII/1 including the famous Teshik Tash, Amir Temur Cave, and Machay Cave. The investigators concluded that these are no longer suitable for further research (Nishiakietal. 2018). One more archaeological excavation was not mentioned in our last report, in this case that of Bury Kabir underground system dated to High Middle Ages. The site is situated not far from the junction of the roads leading from Sherabad and Darband to Baysun and was studied by the Baysun Expedition (Mokroborodov 2007). Viktor Mokroborodov excavated briefly also one of the Munchak Tepas in Kofrun village, but the results of these digs were so far presented only preliminarily at aconference and not fully published (Mokroborodov s.d.). Some additional comments deserve also the investigation of Uzundara fortress. It was shortly investigated by Rtveladze in 1991 and dated first to the Kushan period (Rtveladze 2002, 103–104). It was already Rakhmanov and Rapin, who in 1997 recognized– based on the surface pottery finds– that this fortress having 13 defensive towers does not belong to the Kushan period, as previously thought, but predominantly to the Hellenistic period (Rakhmanov– Rapin 1998, 30). Regular intensive excavations of the Russian -Uzbekistani team lead by N. Dvurechenskaya (RAS, Moscow) started at Uzundara in 2013 and continues regularly till this day revealing every year numerous remarkable finds and contexts (Rtveladze– Dvurechenskaya 2015; Dvurechenskaya 2015; 2018; Dvurechenskayaetal. 2016). The key site for understanding the presumed defensive system of Bactria– Sogdiana borderlands is the Darband Wall. It was discovered originally by Parfyonov in 1930 (Rakhmanov– Rapin 1998, 5) and then again ‘re -discovered’ by Rtveladze as presumably aKushan structure in 1986 (Rtveladze 1986). In 1996–2001, Rakhmanov and Rapin– in charge of Darband archaeological team (Darbandskiy arkheologichekiy otryad)– opened several trenches (sections of the wall and excavations of towers) to find out that the massive fortification had been founded in the Greco -Bactrian period, only to be later repeatedly reinforced by the Kushans (Rakhmanov– Rapin 2003; Rapinetal. 2006). During this process, members of the team surveyed selectively also various sites and places in the neighbourhood of Darband, but also more remote ones, such as Kapkagli Auzy near Akrabad and Kyz Kurgan in the vicinity of Sina (Shurchi region) (Rapin 2013, 71, 75). SURVEY RESULTS In the following we provide abrief description of the principal investigated sites, both already known and newly uncovered, sorted according to the survey areas defined above. SURVEY AREA 1: SARYMAS The only activity in this part of the region was continuation of the metal detector survey (conducted by T. Bek on April 21) of the foot path leading form the village of Darband up to the plateau of Sarymas (see Pl. 5/2) that was started in 2017 by T. Smělý (Stančoetal. 2018, 140). This second survey focused on the middle part of the ascent and allowed us to broaden the dating of the active use of the path back to the Late Antiquity, since afew coins belonging to the Kushan -Sasanian period have been detected. SURVEY AREA 2: MACHAY DARYA VALLEY Resuming our last year survey in this area (Pl. 5/3), we re -visited Machay Kurgan, the only site in the Machay valley dated to the early Antiquity, collected more surface pottery and employed
145STANČO– SHAYDULLAEV– KHAMIDOV– AUGUSTINOVÁ– DAMAŠEK– BEK– KMOŠEK also metal detector survey on the eroded slopes of the hill. Previous dating of the material to the Hellenistic period has been confirmed by alarger body of finds; the same goes for the dating to the High Medieval period. Finds of metal ingots, moreover, suggest that the metal processing most likely took place at this site. We also visited sites reported by local people as ‘ancient’, situated to the north of the valley, but there was only an old (albeit Pre -Modern) cemetery to be seen. Finally, we walked the valley leading from the west end of the Machay village northward toward the village of Khoja Dagyak with only afew scattered ceramic fragments found on the way, but with two sites detected in the latter village itself. Among the material, Medieval, as well as Achaemenid pottery has been preliminarily recognized. We are cautious with adefinite dating of the supposedly Achaemenid ceramics since the material differs slightly from what we know from the Sherabad and Surkhan Darya lowlands. SURVEY AREA 3: SUSIZTAG Since the summit of Susiztag ridge was to acertain degree surveyed by our team in the last season, we focused now in three brief walks on the foot -paths allowing for reaching the summit from various points at its eastern foothills (Pl. 5/4). Our aim here was to detect any structures in order to verify the assumption of N. Dvurechenskaya and her team about acomplex fortification system on this mountain ridge stretching from Darband down to Amu Darya (Dvurechenskaya 2018, 18). We took gradually three various ways up the eastern slope of the mountain: first directly westward from the village of Sairob, more precisely from the site of Kala -e Hissor on the northern margin of the village; the second ascent started from southernmost periphery of the same village, while the third was situated north of Sairob. As the massive stone walls were reported here by the Russian team (Dvurechenskaya 2018, 18), we examined one of these very carefully searching for pottery and metal objects with unfortunately only negative results. We were not able to discover any archaeological material. This fact, along with the condition of the wall itself, which lacks any fill of soil between the stones caused by aeolic redeposition as is so typical of old structures, leads us to certain circumspection about the dating of the walls to the Hellenistic period and its functional connection to the Uzundara fortress itself (Dvurechenskaya 2018, 18) unless any relevant archaeological material is published. Both of the ascents in the direct vicinity of Sairob brought negative results: neither structures nor archaeological material has been discovered there. SURVEY AREA 4: ALAMLI No new survey was conducted in this area in 2018, we have to correct, however, wrong description and dating of the pottery assemblage published in our previous survey report. The material in Fig. 11 was labelled as ‘Kushan pottery of AL_004, Munchak Tepa’ by mistake (Stančoetal. 2018, 149, fig. 11). In fact, the pottery belongs to the High Medieval Period. SURVEY AREA 5: DARBAND In the Darband village itself, where also our base was situated, we limited our works to verifications of the data published quite recently on the sites of Kapchigay and Sultan Kul’ (Sverchkov 2005, 13–14). The former one– Kapchigay– is situated on asmall hillock in the northern part of the village just ca. 250–300 m south -east of the entrance to the Machay Darya ravine (Fig. 2; Pl. 5/2).
146 STUDIA HERCYNIA XXIII/1 Activity no. Description of the itinerary / activity Finds / Sites found Date (2018) 1 Surroundings of Sherabad, selective survey of already known sites no. 0393,1017 (Shish Tepa), and 026 (Yalangoyokota Tepa). Surface pottery collected, metal detector survey on the slopes of the sites. Pottery; metal objects 20 April 2From Darband along the footpath up to / down from Sarimask; surveyed by metal detector Small metal objects 21 April 3East of the northern end of the Daganajam Village to the road linking Baysun and Sairob; 7 km walking Negative results. Remains of old stone-build path along the river bank 21 April 4From the northern end of Sairob westwards up to / down from Susiztag by steep path; 6.1 km (up to 1760 m.a.s.l.) Negative results 21 April 5 Surroundings of Kurganzol; metal detector survey Coins, arrow heads 22 April 6Kofrun– individual sites Mazarat Tepa, Munchak Tepa 1, Munchak Tepa 2; by car 22 April 7 Kofrun– Munchak Tepa 2, Kul´ Tepa; surface survey + metal detector survey; Karaul Tepa (outside the village to the southwest); by car Hellenistic pottery found at Munchak Tepa II; pottery and coins (Early Medieval) at Kul´ Tepa 23 April 8 Along the Darband / Sherabad Darya in the villages of Daganajam and Khoja Bulgan; four modern cemeteries visited; by car New Hellenistic site (Daganajam Tepa) detected; ceramics collected; otherwise negative results 24 April 9From Darband along the footpath up to / down from Sarimask; surveyed by metal detector Small metal objects and coins incl. Kushan ones 24 April 10 Sairob– Kala-e Hissar; metal detector survey of the slopes of the site Small metal objects and coins 24 April 11 From southern end of Sairob westwards up to / down from Susiztag by steep path; 7.66 km walked (up to 2020 m.a.s.l.) Negative results 24 April 12 Panjob Valley; surface survey + metal detector survey; by car Newly detected site of Panjob Tepa; ceramics collected (3rd– 4th c. AD); rotary quern stone (square); one more site of the same period nearby, metal slag detected; medieval site west of the village 25 April 13 Surroundings of Kurganzol; metal detector survey arrow head 26 April 14 Inkabod, Dashtigaz, Pul´khakim, Bodina/Pudina; surface survey, ceramics collected Dunya Tepa in Inkabod (Medieval); other villages– negative results 26 April 15 South of Kofrun near the Eriell company base in the steppe; 2.3 km walked Scatters of ceramics detected, no topographic features 26 April 16 Chilonzor Village– modern cemetery and its surroundings, surface survey; by car Ceramics on the surface collected (Medieval) 27 April 17 Payon Kurgan; surface survey, metal detector survey of the slopes Representative assemblage of the ceramics collected; small metal objects incl. coins detected 28 April 18 Kapkagli Auzy (near Akrabad); ascent by southern foot path; surface survey of the entire southern ridge and metal detector survey / sampling; altogether ca. 18 km walked Ceramics and small metal objects incl. coins and arrow heads detected; stone structures found (kurgans); Medieval ceramics and stone structures at Jidaily Buloq (spring) 29 April 19 Kapkagli Auzy (near Akrabat) ascent from the west; survey of the structures at Jidaily Buloq incl. metal detector survey; 8.85 km walked Plentiful ceramics, coins (Medieval) 30 April 20 Kichik Ura Darya valley, Bilbaily Vilage; three sites surveyed: small Chashtepa and a No name tepa, and large Bilbaily Kurgan / Sapol Tepa Ceramics, glass, and small metal objects incl. coins collected 30 April 3 The numbers were given to the sites by our team during the extensive survey of the Sherabad Oasis in 2008–2011, see Stančo– Tušlová 2019.
147STANČO– SHAYDULLAEV– KHAMIDOV– AUGUSTINOVÁ– DAMAŠEK– BEK– KMOŠEK Activity no. Description of the itinerary / activity Finds / Sites found Date (2018) 21 Daganajam Kurgan; metal detector survey of the slopes Small metal objects 1 May 22 Kofrun– northern part; surface survey of a few spots– Arab Tepa, Ghisht Tepa; 2.56 km walking Negative results 1 May 23 Podang and surroundings of the hermitage of Khoja Kochkor Ota Negative results in Podang; Ceramics (Medieval) and slag collected south of the hermitage 1 May 24 The road beyond the Khatak Vilage to the west into the mountain gorge, visual examination of the terrain, by car. No results 2 May 25 Iskandar Tepa, metal detector survey Small metal objects incl. coins (Demetrius) detected 2 May 26 Machay Kurgan, metal detector survey Small metal objects incl. ingots 3 May 27 North of Machay in the mountains– two small caves and old cemetery; by car Khoja Dagyak Village Negative results. Ceramics collected at two spots. 3 May 28 Over the pass north of Khoja Dagyak (1680 m.a.s.l.) to the village of Chashma-e Miran; by car Two sites surveyed– Mahmadshah and Kurgan; ceramics collected 4 May 29 Darband Wall; surface survey and metal detector survey of the slopes Large assemblage of ceramics collected from various parts of the surface; small metal objects incl. coins (Euthydemus, Demetrius, Soter Megas) and arrow heads detected 5 May 30 Daganajam Tepa, surface survey and metal detector survey of the slopes Ceramics collected; small metal objects found incl. coins (Antiochus, Euthydemus, Demetrius) 5 May 31 Darband Village; surface survey of the sites of Kapchigay and Sultan Kul´ An assemblage of Hellenistic ceramics collected at Kapchigay, and remains of stone architecture?; Sultan Kul´ seems to be destroyed / completely removed 6 May 32 Darband Wall; metal detector survey of the slopes Small metal objects detected 6 May 33 South of Kofrun near Eriell base in the steppe; 1.9 km walked Scatters of ceramics detected, no topographic features 7 May 34 Toda, eastern margin, site of Ak Tepa on the mountain spur Ceramics collected (Medieval) 7 May 35 North-west of Sairob on the slope of Susiztag, massive stone walls; 9.2 km walked Negative results 8 May 36 Sina Village, mountain of Kyz Kurgan; surface survey and metal detector survey; the wall of Kafir Kala in the village not found; 1.6 km walked Limited number of ceramics collected, no metal finds 9 May 37 Darband– gorge; photo documentation of the old stonebuild roads No results 10 May 38 West of the Daganajam Village in the steppe Medieval site detected, pottery assemblage collected 11 May Tab. 1: Surface survey progress Modern asphalt road passes through the centre of the mound dividing it into two halves, the eastern one being slightly more elevated than the western one. The entire hillock is build up with living houses, related small buildings, and mud -brick fences, which makes it difficult to study. Nonetheless, rich archaeological material has been collected from the western part of the site (max. extent of which is ca. 110×100 m), where we were allowed to survey the gardens and courtyards. The eastern part (max. ca. 150×120 m) was so far not studied. Preliminary metal -detector survey did not yield any significant material so far.
148 STUDIA HERCYNIA XXIII/1 Due to the small -scale building activities within the gardens, occasional ceramic material was brought to the surface and scattered throughout the courtyard (Fig. 3). Additionally, damaged slope at the northwest edge revealed traces of stone -build architecture reaching down to the depth of ca. 2 m (Fig. 4). Unfortunately, only very small not build up area between the houses remains accessible for the excavations and even here some recently constructed fundaments signal further building plans. We searched in vain for the other published site (Sultan Kul’) on the oposite bank of the Darband Darya. According to local inhabitants, the original small, but significantly elevated mound, has been removed quite recently by the plot owner during construction of alarge house. Even if carefully checked, the waste earth did not contain any ceramics that would allow us for verification of the dating of this site to the Achaemenid period (Sverchkov 2005, 13). People living in the neighbourhood, however, speak about adistinct function of the mound: according to them, it once served as adudbon, i.e. signal point, forwarding messages from the Darband Wall to Kapchigay, as they say. Where they came across such an interpretation, we do not know. The line of the Darband Wall situated west of the village of the same name was divided to three parts: 1. Northern part, situated to the north of the modern main road (between the road and the steep slope of Sarymas); 2. Central part, to the south of the modern main road (between the road and ‘old road’); 3. Southern part (to the south of the ‘old road’). Surface finds were collected in correspondance with this division. Apart from the ordinary surface survey Fig. 2: The site of Kapchigay (BA5_24) covered with modern houses, Darband Village.
149STANČO– SHAYDULLAEV– KHAMIDOV– AUGUSTINOVÁ– DAMAŠEK– BEK– KMOŠEK Fig. 3: Ceramic assemblage from the site of Kapchigay (BA5_24), aselection.
156 STUDIA HERCYNIA XXIII/1 Fig. 11: Pottery assemblage of the High Medieval period from the site of Kala -e Hissor in Sairob (BA5_01).
157STANČO– SHAYDULLAEV– KHAMIDOV– AUGUSTINOVÁ– DAMAŠEK– BEK– KMOŠEK Fig. 12: Metal tools and implements from the site of Kala -e Hissor (BA5_01), Sairob.
158 STUDIA HERCYNIA XXIII/1 The Sairob area is closely related not only to the Sherabad Darya valley itself, but also to the south -western micro region of Panjob / Gazak valley (see Survey Area 9: Panjob Valley below). In the future, attention should be paid to the remaining parts of the Sairob– Munchak micro oasis and also to the village of Gilla Kamar to the north of them. These were, as far as we know, not surveyed yet. The last site preliminarily studied in the river valley was asmall tepa in the village of Chilonzor, some 15 km to the south of Sairob. Just west of the main road Darband– Sherabad (M39), there is aPre -Modern cemetery with asmall mound in its northern part, the Chilonzor Tepa (Fig. 13). Pottery (21 diagnostic fragments) collected and dated at the hillock and around shows apredominantly High Medieval occupation at this site. Just across the road, human skeletal remains have been recently unearthed during the construction works of the water tunnel under the road. Ahandful of ceramic fragments found at this place are dated to the Early Medieval period. Sub ‑area 6_2: Rabat, Kofrun and around The other part of the Sairob– Rabat steppe zone is situated outside of the Sherabad Darya river valley, more precisely to the east of it (Pl. 5/7). Again, the settlements here are to be found predominantly in the valleys of small and/or seasonal water streams. Beside our effort to detect new, so far unknown archaeological sites, we strove to get more data on the sites that were in one way or another studied already, but not sufficiently published. The first micro -region that was studied here, were the surroundings of the village of Rabat, south of Baysun. Since almost no archaeological material has been published so far from the most prominent site in this area, that of Payon (or Tuman) Kurgan (BA5-18) (Abdullaev 1999; 2001; 2002), we decided to collect the surface material in order to prove or disapprove the dating to the Hellenistic period. Altogether 44 diagnostic pottery fragments were gained allowing us to be sure about the Late Hellenistic / Yue -zhi (and the Kushan) dating, but not about the Early Hellenistic one. This was corroborated by four coins found at the site, none of which was of early Hellenistic date. It would be very important to compare the full results Fig. 13: The site of Chilonzor Tepa in Chilonzor (BA5_20), photo by A. Augustinová.
159STANČO– SHAYDULLAEV– KHAMIDOV– AUGUSTINOVÁ– DAMAŠEK– BEK– KMOŠEK of the excavations at the site with the material culture of the nearby, repeatedly researched Rabat necropolis dated to the turn of era (Abdullaev– Annaev 2001). In the close proximity to Payon Kurgan, but on the other side of the road, there is asmall tepa used recently as acemetery (BA5-03). It is dated by the surface material (22 diagnostic fragments) to the High Medieval period. Our attention was paid especially to the village of Kofrun and its environs, since earlier surveys led to the discovery of several archaeological sites in the Kofrun oasis. Consequently, we visited altogether 11 sites / find spots with archaeological material in and at the outskirts of the oasis. In the central part of Kofrun village, there are two sites situated close to each other, but on the opposite banks of the dry riverbed of Khangarasa. In accordance with the previous research, we call them Munchak tepa 1 (eastern bank) and Muchak Tepa 2 (western bank). Munchak Tepa 1– ahigh but rather small mound (Fig. 14)– was formerly dated to the Kushan period (Mokroborodov s.d.), while our survey brought to light material belonging to the Greco -Bactrian period, too (Fig. 6:1–2). The same dating applies also for the twin -site of Munchak Tepa 2 (Fig. 6: 3–10), which is unfortunately only poorly preserved due to the water erosion caused by the seasonal stream (Fig. 15). What portion of its former surface has been washed away, it is difficult to say. Besides the Hellenistic material, there are some hints at an earlier human presence in this area, since pottery scatters situated to the south of Kofrun show some Achaemenid features. Beside some few Late Kushan fragments, Early Medieval period was attested at the central site of Kul’ Tepa (BA5_8), while the High Medieval period prevailed at the largest site of the oasis, that of Mazaristan Tepa (BA5_2), with some more pottery scatters in the steppe to the south of Kofrun. Ceramic of this period was collected also at Munchak Tepa 1. Fig. 14: The site of Munchak Tepa 1 (BA5_6) in Kofrun, view from the west.
160 STUDIA HERCYNIA XXIII/1 Sub ‑area 6_3: To the east of Baysun Dunya Tepa in the village of Inkabod revealed large number of pottery fragments dating from the High Middle Ages. SURVEY AREA 7: AKRABAT– KAPKAGLI AUZY The summit of the peculiar geological formation of Kapakli Auzy with characteristic steep slopes in the west, east and south and gentle inclination in the north, was surveyed in two successive days by both extensive walking of agroup of people and ametal detector survey at selected points (Pl. 5/8). With regard to the topography of this mountain formation, we focused primarily on the highest points, the edges above the steep cliffs providing the greatest natural protection, access routes, and then on the surroundings of the only major water source– the spring of Jidayli Buloq in its south -western part. It was in the neighbourhood of this spring where we detected remains of an oblong stone enclosure. Altogether, seven concentrations of archaeological material were documented on the Kapkagli Auzy. Among them, the earliest– Antique– material comes from DK6-01 (i.e. the above -mentioned enclosure), while DK6-03 most probably belongs to the Late Kushan / Kushan– Sasanian period. Otherwise, the material from the massive has been dated predominantly to the High Medieval Period (esp. DK6-07). Fig. 15: The site of Munchak Tepa 2 (BA5_7) in Kofrun, view from the southeast.
161STANČO– SHAYDULLAEV– KHAMIDOV– AUGUSTINOVÁ– DAMAŠEK– BEK– KMOŠEK SURVEY AREA 8: KICHIK ‑URA DARYA In order to better understand the communication possibilities between historical Bactria and Sogdiana, we took two different roads connecting the Darband area and the Kichik -Ura Darya valley. Additionally, we briefly surveyed afew sites in the latter (Pl. 5/9). Our main aim was to compare archaeological material from both sides of the mountain range (i.e. of what is traditionally assumed to be aborder) and to get an idea about communication corridors between the two regions. Using satellite imagery, several topographically significant locations had been identified and later verified during the field work. The sites were situated in or around the villages of Bilibayli (DK7-01–03) and Chashmaimiron (DK7-04–06). The earliest surface pottery finds have been dated very preliminarily– since we do not possess any relevant comparative assemblage– to the transitional period between the Greco -Bactrian and Kushan period, in other words in the Yue -zhi period (DK7-03–05). Only further comparative analysis may confirm the proposed chronology and exclude the possibility of an earlier (Greco -Bactrian) date. The rest of the ceramic material point to the Medieval, especially High Medieval (attested at 5 out of 6 sites), period as the settlement heyday in the upper Kichik Ura Darya valley. In this respect, it corresponds very well to the situation in the Baysun area. SURVEY AREA 9: PANJOB VALLEY One of the last valleys in these parts that were so far not visited by the Czech -Uzbek team is that of Panjob, which is situated southwest of Sairob (Pl. 5/10). This track following the brook of Gazak (which should be perhaps more appropriate name for this valley / micro -region) makes it possible– as one of afew options– to cross the Kugitang mountain chain and its northern promontories (Karyshatu, Kul’bat Tau) in the east -west direction. Suitable rather for pack animals, it is slightly more difficult than the road of Khatak situated just afew kilometres to the south. Our targets here were not pre -determined by study of satellite imagery. Instead we followed local topography by way of simple direct visual observation on the spot. Doing so, we discovered four places with densely scattered ceramic fragments, Among them BA5_13 which was given the name of Panjob Tepa (Fig. 17) was the most pronounced one also Fig. 16: Kapkagli Auzy massif, general view from the south, photo by A. Augustinová.
162 STUDIA HERCYNIA XXIII/1 from the topographical point of view. Situated near the bottom of the valley (Gazak Say), this rather small tepa provided rich archaeological material, including arotary quern -stone square in its outlines (perhaps unfinished?), and plentiful pottery of the Kushan -Sasanian period. Pottery of the same period was also discovered on the nearby natural hill (BA5_11), where we also found traces of metal working (large quantities of slag). Two other sites were detected to the west of the village, several hundred meters form the mouth of the Panjob gorge. Pottery scatters were distributed both at the bottom of the valley (first terrace, BA5_12), and on the elevated hillocks to the north of it (BA5_10). At this place, several kurgan -like features of unknown date were constructed on summits of these hillocks. This area has obviously high potential for the future surface survey. Fig. 17: Site of Panjob Tepa 2 (BA5_13), view from the north.
163STANČO– SHAYDULLAEV– KHAMIDOV– AUGUSTINOVÁ– DAMAŠEK– BEK– KMOŠEK Fig. 18: Pottery assemblage of the Kushan -Sasanian period from the site of Panjob Tepa (BA5_13).
164 STUDIA HERCYNIA XXIII/1 Site code Name Modern place Survey Area District LAT LONG ELEV. m.a.s.l. Pottery Coins Dating Ghisht Tepa Kofrun 6 Baysun 38.099756 67.247360 857 0 0 ?? AL_001 No name Alamli 4 Baysun 38.120291 66.851869 1735 1 0 ANT (1) AL_002 Dunya Tepa Alamli 4 Baysun 38.123426 66.855250 1709 5 0 EMA (2) AL_003 Kara Tash Alamli 4 Baysun 38.144833 66.841415 1745 6 0 LMA (6) AL_004 Munchak Tepa - Central Mound Alamli 4 Baysun 38.138592 66.839708 1769 19 0 ANT (8), PMO (10) AL_005 Shurob 4 Baysun 17 0 PMO (17) AL_006 Alamli 4 Baysun 0 0 --- AL_007 Munchak Tepa (cemetery) Alamli 4 Baysun 38.137768 66.840214 1101 39 LKU (24), PMO (15) BA5-01 Kala-e Hissor Sairob 5 Baysun 38.079739 66.964970 1044 30 HMA (30) BA5-02 Mazarat Tepa Kofrun 5 Baysun 38.087935 67.257670 833 45 0 LKU (2), HMA (43) BA5-03 No name (Mazar Tepa) Tuman Kurgan / Payon Kurgan 5 Baysun 38.156751 67.196129 1062 22 0 HMA (22) BA5-04 Buloq below Karaul Tepa Kofrun 5 Baysun 38.063569 67.258861 768 4 0 ?? BA5-05 Karaul Tepa Kofrun 5 Baysun 38.065972 67.256693 817 11 0 EMA (1), PMO (1) BA5-06 Munchak Tepa 1 Kofrun 5 Baysun 38.084717 67.248264 823 45 0 HELL (9), HMA (10)* BA5-07 Munchak Tepa 2 Kofrun 5 Baysun 38.085163 67.249733 821 49 0 HELL (49) BA5-08 Kul´Tepa Kofrun 5 Baysun 38.090651 67.252314 832 29 2 EMA BA5-09 Daganajam Tepa Daganajam 5 Baysun 38.139941 67.041210 944 35 HELL (35) BA5-10 No name Panjob 9 Baysun 37.994399 66.880127 1046 37 EMA BA5-11 No name Panjob 9 Baysun 38.006126 66.970445 867 35 KU-SA * 26 fragments have not been dated yet. OVERVIEW OF THE GAINED DATA43 4 The following table contains not only sites surveyed in 2018, but also significant ones studied in 2017.
165STANČO– SHAYDULLAEV– KHAMIDOV– AUGUSTINOVÁ– DAMAŠEK– BEK– KMOŠEK Site code Name Modern place Survey Area District LAT LONG ELEV. m.a.s.l. Pottery Coins Dating BA5-12 No name Panjob 9 Baysun 37.992522 66.880430 1022 28 EMA, HMA BA5-13 Panjob Tepa Panjob 9 Baysun 38.005073 66.974929 851 57 KU-SA BA5-14 steppe near the Eriell Base 1 Kofrun 5 Baysun 38.043824 67.301230 785 32 0 ACH BA5-15 Sufi Bobo Kabriston Pul´Khakim 5 Baysun 38.175418 67.369999 1000 6 0 ?? BA5-16 Dunya Tepa Inkabod 5 Baysun 38.177233 67.284408 1077 35 0 HMA BA5-17 steppe near the Eriell Base 2 Kofrun 5 Baysun 38.041339 67.302729 788 18 0 HMA BA5-18 Payon Kurgan Tuman Kurgan / Payon Kurgan 5 Baysun 38.159003 67.190708 1067 44 4 HELL, YUE, KUSH BA5-19 No name Chilonzor 5 Baysun 37.939701 67.040321 689 10 0 EMA BA5-20 Chilonzor Tepa Chilonzor 5 Baysun 37.940181 67.038634 696 23 0 HMA BA5-21 Darband Wall North Darband 5 Baysun 38.213075 66.972561 1217 71 HELL BA5-22 Darband Wall Centre Darband 5 Baysun 38.208658 66.973709 1200 36 HELL BA5-23 Darband Wall South Darband 5 Baysun 38.205587 66.976333 1170 55 HELL BA5-25 steppe near the Eriell Base 3 Kofrun 5 Baysun 38.042921 67.304373 778 7 HMA BA5-26 steppe near the Eriell Base 4 Kofrun 5 Baysun 38.044218 67.301617 788 6 HMA BA5-27 Ak Tepa (at Toda) Toda 5 Baysun 38.227439 67.144479 1632 22 HMA, LMA BA5-28 Daganajam (private house) Daganajam 5 Baysun 38.142370 67.041782 939 1 EMA (1) BA5-29 Daran-e Darvazasi Daganajam 5 Baysun 38.131599 67.028569 962 21 0 HME, LMA BA5-30 Kurganzol Rabat 5 Baysun 38.096225 67.184215 910 0 3 HELL BA8-01 Khoja Kochkor Ota Podang 8 Baysun 38.284585 67.239891 1950 16 0 EMA, HMA BU-001 Busgalakhana Sarymas 1 Baysun 38.229209 66.898553 1230 3 HMA (3) DA 001 No name Darband 5 Baysun 38.21947268 67.02834554 1073 5 PMO
172 STUDIA HERCYNIA XXIII/1 Odiljon Khamidov Institute of Archeological Research named after Y. Gulyamov of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan Department of Archeology of the Ancient period st. V. Abdullaev 3, Samarcand, Uzbekistan [email protected]
204 STUDIA HERCYNIA XXIII/1 Pl. 5/1: Research areas in Baysun Tau foothills in 2018. Pl. 5/2: Research areas 1 and 5 (Sarymas and Darband) with all sites studied in 2017 and 2018 indicated.
205PLATES Pl. 5/3: Research area 2 (Machay Valley) with all sites studied in 2017 and 2018 indicated. Pl. 5/4: Research area 3 (Susiztag) with all sites studied in 2017 and 2018 indicated.
206 STUDIA HERCYNIA XXIII/1 Pl. 5/5: Research area 6 (Sairob– Rabat Steppe Zone) with all sites studied in 2017 and 2018 indicated. Pl. 5/6: Research area 6_1 (Sherabad Darya Valley), detail of Daganajam Village area with sites studied in 2018 indicated.
207PLATES Pl. 5/7: Research area 6_2 (Rabat, Kofrun and around) with all sites studied in 2018 indicated. Pl. 5/8: Research area 7 (Akrabat– Kapkagli Auzy) with all sites studied in 2018 indicated.
208 STUDIA HERCYNIA XXIII/1 Pl. 5/9: Research area 8 (Kichik -Ura Darya) with all sites studied in 2018 indicated. Pl. 5/10: Research area 9 (Panjob) with all sites studied in 2018 indicated