53 research outputs found
La Civilización del Oxus
La Civilización del Oxus, también conocida como la Civilización de Bactria-Margiana, está centrada en el oasis de
Murghab, Turkmenistán, y datada entre el 2200-1700 AC. Descubierta por Victor Sarianidi en la década de 1970,
continua sus excavaciones en el poblado de +20 hectáreas de Gonur depe. La Civilización del Oxus tiene una
arquitectura única, una cultura material excepcionalmente rica, y contactos con Mesopotamia, el Valle del Indo y
la llanura iraní.The Oxus Civilization, also known as the Bactrian-Margina Civilization, is centere in the Murghab Oasis,
Turkmenistan, and dated to 2200-1700 BC. Discovered by Victor Sarianidi in the 1970s, he continues his excavations
on the +20 hectare site of Gonur depe. The Oxus Civilization has unique architecture, an exceptionally rich material
culture, and contacts with Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley and the Iranian Plateau
Archaeology and Language: The Indo-Iranians
This review of recent archaeological work in Central Asia and Eurasia attempts to trace and date the movements of the IndoIraniansspeakers of languages of the eastern branch of ProtoIndoEuropean that later split into the Iranian and Vedic families. Russian and Central Asian scholars working on the contemporary but very different Andronovo and Bactrian Margiana archaeological complexes of the 2d millennium b.c. have identified both as IndoIranian, and particular sites so identified are being used for nationalist purposes. There is, however, no compelling archaeological evidence that they had a common ancestor or that either is IndoIranian. Ethnicity and language are not easily linked with an archaeological signature, and the identity of the IndoIranians remains elusive
Multiregional Emergence of Mobile Pastoralism and Nonuniform Institutional Complexity across Eurasia
In this article I present a new archaeological synthesis concerning the earliest formation of mobile pastoralist economies across central Eurasia. I argue that Eurasian steppe pastoralism developed along distinct local trajectories in the western, central, and (south)eastern steppe, sparking the development of regional networks of interaction in the late fourth and third millennia BC. The “Inner Asian Mountain Corridor” exemplifies the relationship between such incipient regional networks and the process of economic change in the eastern steppe territory. The diverse regional innovations, technologies, and ideologies evident across Eurasia in the mid-third millennium BC are cast as the building blocks of a unique political economy shaped by “nonuniform” institutional alignments among steppe populations throughout the second millennium BC. This theoretical model illustrates how regional channels of interaction between distinct societies positioned Eurasian mobile pastoralists as key players in wide-scale institutional developments among traditionally conceived “core” civilizations while also enabling them to remain strategically independent and small-scale in terms of their own sociopolitical organization. The development of nonuniform institutional complexity among Eurasian pastoralists demonstrates a unique political and economic structure applicable to societies whose variable political and territorial scales are inconsistent with commonly understood evolutionary or corporate sociopolitical typologies such as chiefdoms, states, or empires
Is poverty in our genes? A critique of Ashraf and Galor, "The 'out of Africa' hypothesis, human genetic diversity, and comparative economic development," American Economic Review (Forthcoming)
Ancient Migratory Events in the Middle East: New Clues from the Y-Chromosome Variation of Modern Iranians
Knowledge of high resolution Y-chromosome haplogroup diversification within Iran provides important geographic context regarding the spread and compartmentalization of male lineages in the Middle East and southwestern Asia. At present, the Iranian population is characterized by an extraordinary mix of different ethnic groups speaking a variety of Indo-Iranian, Semitic and Turkic languages. Despite these features, only few studies have investigated the multiethnic components of the Iranian gene pool. In this survey 938 Iranian male DNAs belonging to 15 ethnic groups from 14 Iranian provinces were analyzed for 84 Y-chromosome biallelic markers and 10 STRs. The results show an autochthonous but non-homogeneous ancient background mainly composed by J2a sub-clades with different external contributions. The phylogeography of the main haplogroups allowed identifying post-glacial and Neolithic expansions toward western Eurasia but also recent movements towards the Iranian region from western Eurasia (R1b-L23), Central Asia (Q-M25), Asia Minor (J2a-M92) and southern Mesopotamia (J1-Page08). In spite of the presence of important geographic barriers (Zagros and Alborz mountain ranges, and the Dasht-e Kavir and Dash-e Lut deserts) which may have limited gene flow, AMOVA analysis revealed that language, in addition to geography, has played an important role in shaping the nowadays Iranian gene pool. Overall, this study provides a portrait of the Y-chromosomal variation in Iran, useful for depicting a more comprehensive history of the peoples of this area as well as for reconstructing ancient migration routes. In addition, our results evidence the important role of the Iranian plateau as source and recipient of gene flow between culturally and genetically distinct population
Climate change and the rise of the central Asian Silk Roads
The final centuries BCE (Before Common Era) saw the main focus of trade between the Far East and Europe switch from the so called Northern Route across the Asian steppes to the classical silk roads. The cities across central Asia flourished and grew in size and importance. While clearly there were political, economic and cultural drivers for these changes, there may also have been a role for changes in climate in this relatively arid region of Asia. Analysis of a new ensemble of snapshot global climate model simulations, run every 250 years over the last 6000 years, allows us to assess the long term climatological changes seen across the central Asian arid region through which the classical Silk Roads run. While the climate is comparatively stable through the Holocene, the fluctuations seen in these simulations match significant cultural developments in the region. From 1500 BCE the deterioration of climate from a transient precipitation peak, along with technological development and the immigration of Aryan nomads, drove a shift towards urbanization and probably irrigation, culminating in the founding of the major cities of Bukhara and Samarkand around 700–500 BCE. Between 1000 and 250 BCE the modelled precipitation in the central Asian arid region undergoes a transition towards wetter climates. The changes in the Western Disturbances, which is the key weather system for central Asian precipitation, provides 10% more precipitation and the increased hydrological resources may provide the climatological foundation for the golden era of Silk Road trade
Risultati preliminari delle indagini archeologiche ed etnografiche presso il sito di Togolok 1
Modern Turkmenistan is mainly constituted by a desert landscape, yet despite its harsh climate, cultures have been able to construct networks of water channels since the Bronze Age. This has resulted in a man-made landscape that integrates towns and villages. Extensive surveys and recent archaeological excavations have highlighted that between 2400 and 2100 BC (Namazga V period), the region of the Murghab alluvial fan was characterised by the development of complex urban societies. However, starting from the Late Bronze Age, a new group of mobile pastoralists appeared in the Murghab region and settled along the edges of the sedentary sites. Although their presence is well-attested both by survey and excavation data, their degree of interaction with the sedentary farmers is still debated. In modern Turkmenistan, semi-mobile shepherds continue to drive their cattle across the Murghab, using mobile camps for different months. This paper presents the preliminary results of the excavation of the sedentary site of Togolok 1, as well as the first ethnographic study of the mobile communities of the Murghab region
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Structure, Agency and Commerce in the Ancient Near East
The nature of the economy in the Bronze Age of the Near East has been long debated. Various models are reviewed, as is the role of merchants, the structure and extent of ‘international trade’, and the nature of the market-economy. The diversity of co-occuring structures are seen as characteristic of the ancient economy.Anthropolog
Archaeology in Soviet Central Asia. By Grégoire Frumkin. Handbuch der Orientalistik, part 7, vol. 3, sec. 1. Leiden and Cologne: E. J. Brill, 1970. xviii, 217 + 58 pp. 19 maps, 40 illustrations, 67 plates. 96 Dutch guilders.
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