Weakened dust activity in southern Central Asia during Heinrich events

The article describes the royal cart burials excavated at the Late Harappan site of Sanauli near Delhi in the spring of 2018 on the basis of the available reports and photographs. The author then comments on these finds, dated to about 1900 bce, with the Sanauli cart burials being the first of their kind in Bronze Age India. In his opinion, several indications suggest that the Sanauli “chariots” are actually carts yoked to bulls, as in the copper sculpture of a bull-cart from the Late Harappan site of Daimabad in Maharashtra. The antennae-hilted swords associated with the burials suggest that these bull-carts are likely to have come from the BMAC or the Bactria and Margiana Archaeological Complex (c.2300–1500 bce) of southern Central Asia, from where thereis iconographic evidence of bull-carts. The ultimate source of the Sanauli/BMAC bull-carts may be the early phase of the Sintashta culture in the Trans-Urals, where the chariot (defined as a horse-drawn light vehicle with two spoked wheels) was most probably invented around the late twenty-first century bce. The invention presupposes an earlier experimental phase, which started with solid-wheeled carts that could only be pulled by bulls. An intermediate phase in the development is the “proto-chariot” with cross-bar wheels, attested in a BMAC-related cylinder seal from Tepe Hissar III B in northern Iran (c.2000–1900 bce). The wooden coffins of the Sanauli royal burials provide another pointer to a possible Sintashta origin. The Sanauli finds are considered in the context of the author’s archaeological model for the prehistory of the Indo-Iranian languages, which is adjusted to meet recent justified criticism.

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Back to the Iron Age Chronology in Southern Central Asia

Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia ◽

10.1163/15700577-12341397 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 27 (2) ◽

pp. 337-377

Author(s):

Bertille Lyonnet ◽

Michel Fontugne

Keyword(s):

Central Asia ◽

Iron Age ◽

The Other ◽

Hellenistic Period ◽

Southern Central

Abstract The article reconsiders two major sites of the 1st millennium BC in southern Uzbekistan, Kyzyltepa and Kurganzol. It contests their recent dating – exclusively the Achaemenid and transitional Hellenistic period for the first one, and the end of the 4th c. BC for the second one – mainly based upon dendrochronological analyses relating the samples to the time of Alexander the Great’s conquest or slightly before, and ruling out the other dates given to these sites in previous publications. Our argumentation is based upon (1) various archaeological arguments and (2) scientific criteria that question the dendrochronological data and the supposed aging of the 14C results due to “old waters” from glaciers.

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Agriculturalists and pastoralists: Bronze Age economy of the Murghab alluvial fan, southern Central Asia

Vegetation History and Archaeobotany ◽

10.1007/s00334-014-0448-0 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 23 (6) ◽

pp. 805-820 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

Robert N. Spengler ◽

Barbara Cerasetti ◽

Margareta Tengberg ◽

Maurizio Cattani ◽

Lynne M. Rouse

Keyword(s):

Central Asia ◽

Bronze Age ◽

Alluvial Fan ◽

Southern Central

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Atmospheric dust dynamics in southern Central Asia: Implications for buildup of Tajikistan loess sediments

Atmospheric Research ◽

10.1016/j.atmosres.2019.06.013 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 229 ◽

pp. 74-85 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Yue Li ◽

Yougui Song ◽

Dimitris G. Kaskaoutis ◽

Xiuling Chen ◽

Yunus Mamadjanov ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Central Asia ◽

Atmospheric Dust ◽

Southern Central ◽

Dust Dynamics

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Central Asia and the Interaction between the Iranian Plateau and the Steppes in Late First Millennium BC

Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia ◽

10.1163/15700577-12341335 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 24 (1-2) ◽

pp. 331-353

Author(s):

Johanna Lhuillier ◽

Julio Bendezu-Sarmiento

Keyword(s):

Central Asia ◽

Iron Age ◽

Aral Sea ◽

Cultural Groups ◽

Late Neolithic ◽

Stratigraphic Sequence ◽

Iranian Plateau ◽

Southern Central ◽

First Millennium ◽

Middle Iron Age

AbstractResearch led by the joint French-Turkmen Archaeological Expedition (MAFTur) at Ulug-depe have brought to light the longest continuous stratigraphic sequence of southern Central Asia, starting from the Late Neolithic up to the Middle Iron Age. During the last fieldwork seasons, a later, still poorly-known occupation has been identified: after its abandonment at the end of the Middle Iron Age period, Ulug-depe was briefly reoccupied during the late 1st millennium BC. The archaeological levels related to this occupation are extremely poorly preserved, and this stage is mainly witnessed by a particular pottery complex. Preliminary and ongoing researches on this pottery complex suggest that it principally includes Hellenistic-period vessels associated with some more unusual shapes. This association of material finds analogies in the area of interaction between the northern and the southern parts of Central Asia (i.e., in Uzbekistan, in a territory stretching from Tashkent to the Aral Sea through the Syr Darya area). In this paper, we will present a first overview of these discoveries, placing Ulug-depe at the crossroads of different cultural groups, sedentary and possibly nomadic, at the end of the 1st millennium BC.

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Alloys from Anau: The Manipulation of Metallic Properties in 3rdMillennium B.C. Southern Central Asia

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/opl.2011.739 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 1319 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nathaniel L. Erb-Satullo

Keyword(s):

Central Asia ◽

Metal Flow ◽

Chemical Properties ◽

Metallographic Analysis ◽

Central Asian ◽

Microhardness Testing ◽

Southern Central ◽

Cold Worked ◽

Physical And Chemical ◽

Curved Rod

ABSTRACTMetallography, chemical analysis, and microhardness testing of copper-alloy objects from Anau, Turkmenistan (c. 3000-2400 B.C.), were undertaken to determine how technological choices influenced the properties of the finished objects. Additionally, this analytical program assessed the position of the Anau metals in the development of metallurgy in southern Central Asia. Metallographic analysis of three bladed objects, all copper-arsenic alloys with 1% to 5% arsenic, showed that their edges had been cold-worked to a greater or lesser degree to create a blade that maintained a sharp edge, but also had flexibility to withstand impacts. Microhardness testing confirmed that the blade edges had a higher hardness than the interior metal. One of the objects had sulfur-rich inclusions in the metal matrix, suggesting the original charge had at least some sulfide ore. Conversely, a curved rod, made from a copper-lead-tin alloy, was cast to shape and showed no additional working of the metal. Lead, visible as black particles in the microstructure, was likely added to make the molten metal flow more easily. The metallographic and chemical analyses showed that the Anau objects fit into the tradition of Southern Central Asian metallurgy, though the presence of tin in objects of this period is more rare here than in later periods. Anau smiths displayed an ability to manipulate both physical and chemical properties of metal in order to produce functional objects with optimal characteristics.

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