Preliminary Report for the Archaeological Survey in the Baysun District (South Uzbekistan), Season 2017
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STUDIA HERCYNIA XXII/1, 134–157 Preliminary Report for the Archaeological Survey in the Baysun District (South Uzbekistan), Season 2017 Ladislav Stančo– Shapulat Shaydullaev– Anna Augustinová– Jakub Havlík– Tomáš Smělý– Alisher Shaydullaev– Odiljon Khamidov– Vlastimil Novák ABSTRACT This report represents an overview of the archaeological data that were acquired by the extensive archae‑ ological surface survey conducted by the Czech ‑Uzbek team in the Baysun Mountains, south Uzbekistan, especially on the ridges of Sarymas, Susiztag and Alamli, as well as in the adjacent valleys, in spring 2017. The work focused predominantly on the detecting of ancient roads, fortifications and places of refuge. KEYWORDS Baysun Mountains; Darband; Machay; surface survey; Bactria. INTRODUCTION In the spring of 2017, the Czech ‑Uzbek team started an extensive surface survey in the sur‑ roundings of Darband, Baysun District, south Uzbekistan, which was based on the field walk‑ ing methods developed in the seasons of 2014 and 2015 in the Pashkhurt Valley of the same province (Stančoetal. 2015; Stančo 2016). The principal goal of the project was to verify the hypothesis held by anumber of scholars concerning the route of Alexander the Great’sarmy on its march from Bactria northwards to Sogdiana (and back). In the process, however, we did not limit ourselves to detecting sites dated to Antiquity. Our team documented each single anthropogenic feature that we came across with particular focus on our other projects’ aims in southern Uzbekistan. i.e. the study of kurgans, rock art and settlement dynamics in general. OBJECTIVES AND METHODS The main objectives of our investigations were connected with the principal aim of the two‑ ‑year project entitled ‘On the Oxyartes’ Mountain: Detection of Forts and Refuges of the Alex‑ ander the Great Period.’ We have focused on the verification of various statements of reputable scholars concerning the identification of specific geographic places or areas as ‘venues’ of particular historical events connected with Alexander the Great’scampaign (see below). As we had shared the hypothesis based upon ancient Greek written sources, especially Arrianus and Curtius Rifus, saying that Alexander the Great and his army crossed the mountainous area between Bactria and Sogdiana by way of the Baysun region in general and its western Dar‑ band micro ‑region in particular, we decided to test it. Not relying only on mere field walking, we had computed amodel of an effective communication system, i.e. anetwork of passable
135L. STANČO– SH. SHAYDULLAEV– A. AUGUSTINOVÁ– J. HAVLÍK– T. SMĚLÝ– A. SHAYDULLAEV... routes through the mountains using GIS.1 Thus, while choosing the traces to walk and survey in the mountainous area, we had taken into account this theoretical GIS based model, as well as the sites proposed by scholars mostly in the recent past. The field walking, as part of the extensive archaeological surface survey, followed either the proposed roads or mountain paths, or significant strategically located points both on the summits of the mountain plateaus and in the adjacent valleys. Since the mountainous terrain is not suitable for amethodologically consistent intensive surface survey, we decided from the very beginning not to use this oth‑ erwise preferable and efficient approach, except for places that were exceptionally suitable in this respect. These were represented by the fields situated up on the plateaus / summits of both the Sarymas and Susiztag Mountains, offering arare opportunity to survey alarger area not covered with any vegetation. These fields were walked systematically by groups of 2–4 people, and if no details are dealt with hereafter, it is only because the results of these surveys were in the limit close to zero. During the extensive survey, all surface pottery was collected, spatially documented, and further analysed, topographic anomalies were documented, and in selected places/areas the metal detector survey was employed. The pottery processing, carried out by Anna Augustinová and Jakub Havlík, was supervised by Shapulat Shaydullaev. The metal detector survey including further documentation was entrusted to Tomáš Smělý, while Vlastimil Novák has taken on the task of preliminary coin identification. RESEARCH AREA For the first season work of the two ‑year project we had selected aspecific area in southern Uzbekistan that most scholars dealing with the Alexander eastern campaign issue agree upon in terms of the ‘crime scene’, i.e. the territory where some part of the story took place. It is the mountainous region around the present ‑day village and police check ‑post of Darband, which inherited its customs function from the historical border control point called the Iron Gate and represents without adoubt astrategical point situated on the easiest way through the Baysun Mountains (Pl. 3/1). The fortification of the Darband wall once stood just several hundred meters to the west of the current position of the post, being better situated in terms of protection and visual control of the corridor. Even if the local landscape has been changed substantially quite recently due to the building of anew principal road connecting Samar‑ kand and Termez, as well as the railroad connecting Darband with both of these destinations, the remaining parts of the original Kushan (and Hellenistic, too) border wall are still visible stretching across the valley, especially from far above, i.e. from the summit of Sarymas (Fig. 1). This place forms ahub of roads as it no doubt did in the past, connecting not only the main centres of historical Bactria (Tokharistan) in the south and Sogd in the north, but also lesser towns and villages situated around the present ‑day Baysun to the east, in the valley of Machay to the north and beyond, and in and around the Alamli Mountains to the south ‑west. The key communication corridors are formed by river ‑valleys, among them most prominent‑ ly the many ‑named stream known as the Machay Darya / Darband Darya in this area, while further south it becomes the Sherabad Darya and Kara Su respectively. This south–north axis cuts through the mountains north of Darband eroding apicturesque gorge 600 m deep in places, dramatically separating two formidable mountain massifs: that of Sarymas (almost 2000 m.a.s.l.) to the west and the Ketman Chapty to the east, the latter reaching as much 1 This model and its verification are not described here in detail, since they will be the subject of aseparate, and more theoretically oriented, study, see Stančo– Pažout 2019. Basically, we have used algorithms of the Cumulative Focal Mobility Network.
136 STUDIA HERCYNIA XXII/1 as 3160 m.a.s.l. We divided the researched region (the western part of the Baysun District) centred in Darband into several principal sub ‑regions according to the specific geographical conditions: Area 1: Sarymas; Area 2: Machay Darya Valley; Area 3: Susiztag (including the vicinity of Uzundara fort); Area 4: Alamli; Area 5: Darband village. Fig. 1: View of the Darband wall and Susiztag from Sarymas, photo L. Stančo. As shown by the following overview of the work progress and results, these sub ‑regions were by no means surveyed equally: some of them, especially those clearly delimited, were subject to an extensive survey lasting for afew days (Area 1 and 3), while Area 4, for instance, was visited only once, thus providing only asample of the archaeological record otherwise obtainable. PREVIOUS RESEARCH The Baysun District as awhole has been subject to archaeological investigation of arather haphazard nature ensuing in brief lists of sites. At the beginning of the 1930s, Parfyonov, while searching for Palaeolithic sites of the Sherabad and Baysun Districts, described several settlements of various historical periods sometimes with the (erroneous) conviction that the given site could be aNeolithic settlement. Thus, in the Baysun piedmonts he mentioned three particular sites located near Baysun and Kofrun, and one site in the present ‑day Dekhkanabad District (Parfyonov 1950, 163–164). Instigated by Parfyonov’sreports and invited by Masson, Okladnikov undertook– still in the 1930s– adifficult journey to the Machay Valley and inves‑ tigated caves and rock ‑shelters, including the famous Teshik ‑Tash grotto with aNeanderthal
137L. STANČO– SH. SHAYDULLAEV– A. AUGUSTINOVÁ– J. HAVLÍK– T. SMĚLÝ– A. SHAYDULLAEV... burial (Okladnikov 1939; 1949). The Paleolithic remained for several decades the most intense‑ ly researched prehistoric period (Islamov 1975). Half acentury later, 17 sites of the medieval period were briefly described by E. V. Rtveladze (in Arshavskayaetal. 1982, 116–117). The list, however, contained also some sites of the Bandikhan Oasis located outside of the piedmonts in the Kizirik (formerly Bandikhan) District (nos. 10 and 11), as well as sites located in the Shera‑ bad District (no. 17– Loylagan burial ground). Later on, 18 sites were known in the piedmont steppe and mountains in 1990 (Bobokhojaevetal. 1990), while in 2003, there were mentioned 24 sites already, that time however including Palaeolithic cave sites of the region (TBE I, 84–90; author not mentioned). The same volume contained also arare attempt to draw up ageneral picture of the settlement development in the Baysun District by T. Annaev, who became one of the few archaeologists working in the Baysun District systematically (Annaev– Annaev 2003). S. Stride, who wrote the first geo ‑archaeological work, uses for the Baysun Region the data available in the above ‑mentioned sources, thus only 21 sites2 are listed and exploited for the analyses by him (Stride 2004, vol. 3). The author, however, did not verify the spatial data in the field, for the coordinates of most of the Baysun District sites remain only approximate, while in the chronological aspect, he is fully dependent on the previous research with all its inaccuracies and mistakes. The last list so far has been published by L. Sverchkov, who by way of an extensive survey taking place in 2003 added aconsiderable number of sites (30 according to his claims) bringing the number to 52 overall (Sverchkov 2005b; 2008, 124, fig. 1– map). Besides this, Sverchkov also sketches ageneral development of the settlement in the Baysun District and its closer neighbourhood (Sverchkov 2005c). Among the sites of the region, several have been subject to more or less regular archae‑ ological excavations, especially quite recent ones, as is the case of the Hellenistic fortresses of Kurganzol (Mokroborodov 2005; Sverchkov 2005a; 2007; 2008; 2013), and Uzundara (Rtveladze– Dvurechenskaya 2015; Dvurechenskayaetal. 2016), as well as the so ‑called Darband wall, dated traditionally to the Hellenistic / Kushan period (Rakhmanov– Rapin 2003; Rtveladze 1986; 2001; 2002; 2003; Rapinetal. 2006). The results of these digs have been properly and regularly published, unlike the research at the important Late Hellenis‑ tic / Early Kushan settlement of Payon Kurgan (Abdullaev 1999; 2001; 2002), the material of which remains almost unpublished, despite the fact that the excavations were finished more than 15 years ago. There has also been anomadic (reportedly Yue ‑zhi) necropolis called Rabat 1, excavated in the village of Tuman (or Payon) Kurgan, located close and perhaps related to the above ‑mentioned settlement site of Payon Kurgan. Again, the materials and results of the excavations remain in avery preliminary stage (Abdullaev– Annaev 2001). The excavations at the necropolis Rabat 1, along with that of Rabat 2, were resumed by the Uzbek–Chinese team in Spring 2017 and continued in 2018 as well. AKushan and Medieval settlement was partly excavated in 20023 at the site of Munchak Tepa in the village of the same name (Sheyko 2011), while the trial excavations of the settlement of Dunya Tepa in the Alamli mountains, belonging to the Late Antique period, has not yet been properly published. Even if the High Medieval sites prevail in the settlement pattern of the Baysun piedmonts, the only site of this period closely investigated so far is Bazar Tepa in Khoja Bulgan village (Bobokhojaev 1990), which, moreover, no longer exists. 2 In Stride’scatalogue, cat. nos. Uz ‑SD‑001, 002, 003, 004, 007, 008, 012, 013, 014, 015, 016, 300, 301, 305, 306, 307, 352, 352a, 353, 354, 608 belong to the Baysun District. 3 The first excavations at the site took place in 1987, but the results have not been published at all (Sheyko 2011, 228).
138 STUDIA HERCYNIA XXII/1 No less important for our project is the immense scholarship and literature of arather historical nature, whose authors claim that it is possible to identify various places in the re‑ searched region with particular spots mentioned by Classical authors dealing with Alexander the Great’scampaign, especially Arrian and Curtius Rufus (von Schwartz 1906, 76–81; Rtve‑ ladze 2002; Sverchkov 2008, 165–185; Sverchkov 2013, 136–139; Rapin 2013; 2014; Lerner 2016). The full discussion on individual arguments and claims of the scholars is beyond the scope of this report, it is planned, however, for the final report of the project. SURFACE SURVEY PROCESS / PROGRESS The main research base was established in April 2017 in the village of Darband itself, while temporary expedition camps were pitched for acouple of days– in order to make the work as effective as possible– on the summits of two of the researched ridges, that of Sarymas and Susiztag respectively, since these places are very difficult to reach for asingle ‑day field work. The following overview of the 30 survey traces / routes took place in the aforementioned sub‑ ‑regions of the Baysun District, labelled as Areas 1–6. With afew exceptions, every trace / route represents one ‑day’s, or several hours’, work.4 Altogether, we walked aroute 186 km long, not counting any parallel walking of two or more people in agroup, which was often the case, but only the central line (Tab. 1). Trace / Route no. Area Description of the itinerary Length (kms) Finds / Sites found Date (2017) 1 5 Steppe to the east of Darband 5.97 28 April 2 3 14 2 Along the left bank of Machay Darya gorge north of Darband (to the turn of the river to the east) 3.22 9.07 12.67 Pottery scatter SA_187 – an outpost? Architecture, pottery, coins, slag (MA_093), two caves Kurgans; stone structures; coins 29 April 29 April 4 May 4 5 In the village of Darband 5.45 Several pottery scatters 29 April 5 10 13 1From Darband up to / down from Sarymas 4.6 5 5.19 Part of this path surveyed by metal detector (Smělý): Coins, arrow heads 30 April 2 May 3 May 6 7 1 Along the southern edge of Sarymas (close to the TV transmitter and to the east of it) 5.8 7.74 Stone structures, kurgan‑like features (Sar_001, 002) 30 April 1 May 8 12 1Around an abandoned village – western Sarymas 2.0 1.9 Extensive ruins of a village made of red sandstone blocks Ruins of a Medieval village? 1 May 3 May 9 1 Along the eastern edge of Sarymas (above the Machay Darya gorge) 14.22 Little pottery (including 1 Achaemenid frg.), some stone structures 2 May 4 The trace no. 21 took ca. 30 minutes to accomplish with two sites discovered in the process.
139L. STANČO– SH. SHAYDULLAEV– A. AUGUSTINOVÁ– J. HAVLÍK– T. SMĚLÝ– A. SHAYDULLAEV... Trace / Route no. Area Description of the itinerary Length (kms) Finds / Sites found Date (2017) 11 1 Along the southern edge of Sarymas (close to the TV transmitter and to the west of it) and to the north as far as abandoned village 11 3 May 15 3 Along the dust road and gorge up to Uzundara and beyond 6.89 Coins; pottery 5 may 16 17 18 19 3 Across the summit of Susiztag 9.91 7.82 8.9 (??) Kurgans; stone structures coins 5 May 6 May 6 May 6 May 20 3 Across the summit of Susiztag – northern tip 3.45 6 May 21 3 Along a gorge from the Susiztag summit down to the east (Sairob) 8.26 Pottery; coins; a rock‑ shelter 7 May 22 3 From the summit of Susiztag down to the west and then north to Shurob 8.97 cave 7 May 23 2 Through a gorge linking the main Machay River gorge and Kaynar Buloq 3.2 Kurgans 8 may 24 6 Along the edge of a ravine of Kurganzol, from railroad southwards to the village of Üch Kol 7.95 Medieval cemetery with stone grave stelae / slabs 9 May 25 26 2 Along the upper Machay Darya, in the villages of Past Machay and Yukari Machay 3.17 1 Hellenistic and Medieval settlement 10 May 27 3 Along eastern slopes of Susiztag 1.99 Kurgans; stone structures 10 May 28 4 Across the summit of Alamli Mountains 10.5 Early and High Medieval settlements (Dunya Tepa, Munchak Tepa); mining / smelting activities; slag 11 May 29 1 Through Buzgalakhana gorge 6.32 pottery 12 May 30 6 Along the Ak Tau ridge east of Sairob 11 Kurgans; pottery 15 May Tab.1: Overview of survey traces / routes. SURVEY RESULTS In the following we provide abrief description of the principal investigated or newly uncov‑ ered sites sorted according to the survey areas. Survey Area 1: Sarymas The mountains of Sarymas became the first and foremost target of the survey (Pl. 3/2), because this area best matches the descriptions of one of the ‘rocks’ of Sogdiana and Bactria (refuges
140 STUDIA HERCYNIA XXII/1 of the local population during Alexander the Great’scampaign) as given by the ancient written sources. The survey here lasted for three days and clearly attested that on the plateau there was not only no substantial settlement of the late 4th c. BC, but also no earlier one or any other Antique site. We detected asingle pottery fragment, which could be dated back to the Achae‑ menid period. Our survey covered all the southern and eastern edges of the plateau that by the magnificent panorama view hold control of the Iron Gate area on the one hand, and the Machay gorge on the other. Besides this, we undertook several intensive surface surveys on the above located fields with negative results (Fig. 2). At several points close to the edge of the mountain, we were able to discover stone structures, both oblong ones with stone walls, and circular, reminiscent of kurgans. Most of these features did not yield archaeological material significant enough to date them, if only approximately. Fig. 2: Intensive surface survey on the plateau of Sarymas, photo A. Augustinová. Sarymas is accessible by three principal ways: two of them are steep and difficult unpaved roads, one leading from the south ‑west and the other from the north ‑east. Once on the pla‑ teau, travelling by car is quite easy. We, however, reached the plateau also by the most difficult footpath that forms the only access from the south and east, more precisely from the village of Darband directly to the top. The pottery finds were quite rare in this zone, but we succeeded in detecting many small finds directly on or very close to the path itself by ametal ‑detector, including several fragments resembling parts of arms and armour, including arrow heads of Antiquity (408/1023; 902/3021). Their thorough analysis is currently being prepared. If any army came from the south ‑east (from the Surkhan Darya, Termez, Bactra), this way would have been their first choice to access the mountain defended by the locals. Most of the sites detected by the survey with more than three pottery fragments (in this brief overview we
141L. STANČO– SH. SHAYDULLAEV– A. AUGUSTINOVÁ– J. HAVLÍK– T. SMĚLÝ– A. SHAYDULLAEV... decided to omit the individual pottery finds as less relevant) are dated to the Late Medieval (SA_029, SA_053; SA_187), or even Pre ‑Modern period (SA_062), some of them may have been from the High Medieval phase (SA_009; SA_065; SA_218). The site no. SA_065 yielded slight evidence for the earliest systematic occupation of the plateau in the Early Medieval period. It should be noted, that the sites SA_029, 065 and 0218 together form acluster grouped around arare water source– abundant water springs at the western margin of the plateau, which is actually close to another mountain massif called Karamas, typical for more tree cover. The remains of structures– aLate Medieval / Early Modern village or large farm consist of robust red ‑stone walls, water channels and enclosures for livestock (Fig. 3). Fig. 3: Site SA_029, remains of aPre ‑Modern farm / village at the foot of Karamas Mountain. PhotoL. Stančo. Since also the gorge of Buzgalakhana, which is considered by scholars one of the possible ways through the mountains (Rtveladze 2002, 111–114), forms the south ‑western part of Sarymas we decided to survey it at least preliminarily. There was detected one site situated on aterrace above the bottom of the valley (BU_001) dated by the collected pottery to the High Medieval Period, matching the trend observed on the plateau of Sarymas itself. It should be noted that despite our efforts, only one coin has been detected on the plateau of Sarymas so far– close to the High Medieval site of SA_009 –, which is dated to the Pre ‑Modern period (1001). Survey Area 2: Machay Darya Valley The second task of our team in the area to the north of Darband was to investigate the deep gorge of the Machay Darya and its river valley beyond to the north and east as far as the Past Machay and Yukari Machay villages (Pl. 3/3). We did so in several days, surveying the footpath
142 STUDIA HERCYNIA XXII/1 leading not on the bottom of the valley, but climbing high up to the slopes of Ketman Chapty Mountain with the highest point located in the mountain pass high above the Machay River (Sary Shato pass according to the Soviet maps of the 1980s). The footpath, used by the local population so far, was until quite recently the only way to Machay and other villages situated in the remote valleys of north ‑western Baysun Tau: even the 1970s–1980s maps show only this tiny way and not the currently used asphalt road copying the river bed at the bottom all the way and leading through avery narrow and deep gorge that is definitely not easy to go through in early spring. The pass of Sary Shato is very well situated, overlooking all the Machay Darya gorge and having asplendid view of the Sarymas plateau across the gorge at the same time. The sur‑ vey of this strategic point (MA_093) provided us with abundant archaeological evidence of traffic especially in the Early Medieval Period. As much as 100 pottery fragments have been collected at the site (Fig. 5). Besides these, the metal ‑detector survey added 12 coins (nos. 2001–2012; 3005), including imitations of the Kushan king Vasudeva dated to the 3rd–4th c. AD (2002 and 2003). The Medieval period was represented by the 10th c. Samanid coin (2011), as well as aShaybanid coin of the first half of the 15th c. (2010). In the centre of the meadow once stood an oblong structure made of stone, of which now only the fundaments remain (Fig. 4). Above the Sary Shato pass, there is anarrow gorge at the altitude of 1800–1900 m.a.s.l. with two natural caves situated in the steep slopes of the gorge opposite each other. Locals call them (both) Kara Kamar. Only afew insignificant pottery sherds have been found there. Fig. 4: Stone walls of abuilding at Sary Shato pass (MA_093), photo L. Stančo.
149L. STANČO– SH. SHAYDULLAEV– A. AUGUSTINOVÁ– J. HAVLÍK– T. SMĚLÝ– A. SHAYDULLAEV... The explanation of the existence of such asettlement in this remote and elevated area may lie in peculiar features situated in close proximity to the site. These are especially large fields of metal slag accumulated on the slopes of astream valley immediately to the north. One of them has been documented by our team under the number AL_003.8 These finds provide ev‑ idence of ancient smelting– and mining– activities on alarge scale in this area. The fields of slag of AL_003 are accompanied by several stone piles, or ‘kurgan ‑like features’. More places with fields of slag around the settlement are clearly detectable in the satellite imagery. Fig. 11: Kushan pottery of AL_004, Munchak Tepa, drawing by J. Havlík and V. Doležálková. 8 This is perhaps identical to the site no. 20 in Sverchkov 2005b, 11, named Chuyan Say.
150 STUDIA HERCYNIA XXII/1 Fig. 12: Late Kushan pottery of AL_007, Munchak Tepa, drawing by J. Havlík and V. Doležálková.
151L. STANČO– SH. SHAYDULLAEV– A. AUGUSTINOVÁ– J. HAVLÍK– T. SMĚLÝ– A. SHAYDULLAEV... Fig. 13: Pottery of DA_002, Darband (village) drawing by J. Havlík and V. Doležálková.
152 STUDIA HERCYNIA XXII/1 Our brief description of the Munchak Tepa settlement and the surrounding industrial area shows clearly the high potential of this particular area for the future research of the Medieval metal production on the border of Sogdiana and Tokharistan. Unfortunately, ametal ‑detector, that could have provided some additional surface data, has not yet been employed at this site. Area 5: Darband village Only apart of the village of Darband has been surveyed by Anna Augustinová and Jakub Havlík in order to get asample of the historic settlement on the spot where several important routes met (Pl. 3/6). The methods of the survey were adopted from the project conducted by our team elsewhere– in the Pashkhurt piedmont steppe oases in the last three years. It consists of asking local people, checking topographically significant locations and collecting pottery wherever the terrain and plots with gardens allow for it (Augustinováetal. 2016; 2017). Among the finds, those dated to the Late Medieval and Pre ‑Modern periods clearly predominate (DA_003 and DA_004), while only one find spot yielded also Kushan and Early Medieval pottery material (DA_002). Area 6: Sairob– Rabat Zone Only two survey traces at two different spots were carried out by our team in the large pied‑ mont zone in the foothills of Baysun and Susizag, located between the present ‑day villages of Sairob in the west and Rabat in the east. Since we had not planned acomplex surface survey of the given area, we decided to investigate only particular areas, especially the vicinity of the Hellenistic fortress of Kurganzol (trace no. 24). Our aim here was to detect eventual agri‑ cultural settlements in the hinterland of the fort itself. As for this objective, our results were negative. Only several rather insignificant pottery scatters have been detected. Immediately to the south of the Baysun train station, aMedieval necropolis furnished with stone decorated stelae has been investigated. The second survey trace in Area 6 (no. 30) was situated along the Ak Tau ridge east of Sairob. This work brought to light only afew kurgan ‑like features, while no settlement has been uncovered. CONCLUSIONS The first season of the archaeological surface survey of the Czech ‑Uzbek expedition in the Baysun District of the Surkhan Darya province, south Uzbekistan, confirmed the high potential of this so far understudied area for non ‑destructive archaeological research. The historical landscape in this area is quite well preserved both in the foothills and in the mountain valleys, especially compared to the lowland areas of the province (the Sherabad Oasis studied previ‑ ously by the same team, for instance) due to the fact that only aminor portion of the land is used for agricultural purposes, while the major part of the lowlands grassland and steppe is exploited as pasture. The diverse and uneven relief of the landscape prevents, however, the easy detection of new archaeological sites using aerial or satellite imagery, at least for the present time. Thus, the principal method represents the traditional field walking and visual detection of anthropogenic features in the terrain, corroborated by apredictive approach, be it an empirical one based on the researcher’sexperience with the given type of landscape, or GIS ‑based analysis building on Digital Elevation Model. The latter method helped in this case to trace the historical roads and paths leading through the region of Darband and the so ‑called Iron Gate.
153L. STANČO– SH. SHAYDULLAEV– A. AUGUSTINOVÁ– J. HAVLÍK– T. SMĚLÝ– A. SHAYDULLAEV... During three weeks in the field, the Czech ‑Uzbek team covered an almost 190 km long route on foot, detected several so ‑far unknown settlements (the pass of Sary Shato, no name site close to Machay, and many other sites, see Tab.2), re ‑examined some already known, but insufficiently published ones (Machay Kurgan, Dunya Tepa and Munchak Tepa in the Alamli mountains), and verified the course of several historical roads (i.e. Darband– Machay, Dar‑ band– Sarymas; Sairob –Uzundara– Shurob). One of the most important results of the 2017 field season is connected with the verification of sites, referred to us as places of refuge of the Alexander the Great period. None of the plateaus yielded significant material of the period in question, be it the Achaemenid, or the Early Hellenistic one. The earliest period that is well represented in the archaeological material from the mountains around Darband so far (not to mention the Palaeolithic) is the Late Antique / Early Medieval. As the first season of the project focused on the mountain plateaus and valleys, in the sec‑ ond season (2018) we are going to survey especially the piedmont area of the Baysun District (here labelled as Area 6: Sairob– Rabat zone). Site No. Site name Area Longitude Latitude m.a.s.l. Period (count of finds) AL_002 Dunya Tepa 4 38.123426 66.855250 1709 EMA (2) AL_003 Kara Tash 4 38.144833 66.841415 1745 LMA (6) AL_004 Munchak Tepa 4 38.138592 66.839708 1769 Antiquity (8). Pre‑ Modern (10) AL_007 Munchak Tepa 4 38.137768 66.840214 1101 LKU (24). Pre‑Modern (15) BU_001 Busgalakhana 1 38.229209 66.898553 1230 HMA (3) DA_002 Darband (in the village) 5 38.20935279 67.018823 1023 Antiquity (1). EMA (1). HMA (25). LMA (1). Pre‑Modern (6) DA_003 5 38.21852611 67.027965 1052 HMA (2). Pre‑Modern (10) DA_004 5 38.21857749 67.028202 1050 LMA (7) MA_093 Sary Shato 2 38.285163 67.030333 1611 EMA (101) MA_094 Khojaroshnoy Ota (Machay) 2 38.32799192 67.076898 1312 EMA (13). HMA (11). LKU (5). LMA (1). ME (26) MA_105 Machay Kurgan 2 38.330953 67.077169 1343 GB (5). HMA (152). KUS (16) MA_121 2 38.311431 67.037352 1286 EMA (3) MA_146 2 38.301431 67.009057 1249 LMA (16) MA_149 2 38.301283 67.008474 1254 EMA (6) MA_151 2 38.291628 67.026723 1545 LMA (4) SA_009 1 38.23352661 66.979646 1731 HMA (9) SA_029 Sarymas – old farm 1 38.26685 66.94935 1648 LMA (6) SA_053 1 38.25171694 67.011387 1899 LMA (18) SA_062 1 38.249421 67.005871 1791 Pre‑Modern (11) SA_065 No name 1 38.26756971 66.945351 1762 EMA (1). HMA (7). Pre‑ Modern (24) SA_187 1 38.25548678 67.039959 1438 LMA (5) SA_218 1 38.266481 66.944058 1755 HMA (4). LMA (2) Tab.2: Sites overview with preliminary dating.
154 STUDIA HERCYNIA XXII/1 No. Survey No. Coins determination by Vlastimil Novák (11/2017) 1 2007 AE local mint of Bukhara, 19th / 20th c. AD 2 2001 AE local mints of Central Asia, 19th / 20th c. AD 3 2003 AE local imitation of mints of the Kushan king Vasudeva I, ca. 3rd–4th c. AD 4 2006 AE local mints of Central Asia, 19th / 20th c. AD 5 2002 AE local imitation of mints of the Kushan king Vasudeva I, ca. 3rd–4th c. AD 6 2004 AE local mints of Central Asia, 19th / 20th c. AD 7 2005 AE local mint of Bukhara, 19th / 20th c. AD 8 1001 AE local mints of Central Asia, 19th / 20th c. AD 9 1002 AE local mints of Central Asia, 19th / 20th c. AD 10 2011 AE Samanids, Nuh II. b. Mansur (976–997 AD), minted in Bukhara? 11 2009 AE local mint Bukhara, 19th / 20th c. AD 12 2008 AE local mints of Central Asia, 19th / 20th c. AD 13 2010 AE Shaybanids, Bukhara overstrike by Hissar mint, first half of 15th c. AD 14 2012 AE local mint of Central Asia, 19th / 20th c. AD 15 3005 AE Bactria, Euthydemus I (230–200 BC) after Gardner 1886, 5, nos. 15–17. 16 3006 AE north. Bactria, imitation of tetradrachm of Heliocles I (145–130 BC) 17 3004 AE Iran, local mint, 19th c. AD (obverse lion to the left) 18 3002 AE local mint of Central Asia, 19th / 20th c. AD 19 3003 AE Timurids, Shah Rukh (1405–1447 AD), Bukhara, overstrike Danki 853 AH (AD 1449) 20 3001 AE local mint Bukhara, 1283 AH/1866 AD 21 4001 AE local mint of Central Asia, 19th / 20th c. AD 22 4003 Timurids?, 15th c., secondary perforation (a button?) 23 4004 AE local mint of Central Asia, 19th / 20th c. AD 24 4002 AE local mint Bukhara, 19th / 20th c. AD 25 3007 AE local mint Samarqand, 19th / 20th c. AD 26 3008 illegible 27 3010 AE Timurids, Mid 15th c. AD 28 3011 AE Bactria, Euthydemus I. (230–200 BC) after Gardner 1886, 5, nos. 15–17. 29 3009 AE Timurids, Ahmad (1469–1494), Bukhara, 874 AH (AD 1470), double struck 30 5001 AE imitation of AR dirhamu, Samanids, ca. 950 AD 31 3012‑1 AE local mints of Central Asia, 19th / 20th c. AD 31 3012‑2 AE local mints of Central Asia, 19th / 20th c. AD 33 3012‑3 AE local mints of Central Asia, 19th / 20th c. AD 34 3012‑4 AE local mints of Central Asia, 19th / 20th c. AD 35 3012‑5 AE local mints of Central Asia, 19th / 20th c. AD 36 3012‑6 AE local mints of Central Asia, 19th / 20th c. AD (perhaps Bukhara) 37 3012‑7 AE local mints of Central Asia, 19th / 20th c. AD 38 3012‑8 AE local mints of Central Asia, 19th / 20th c. AD Tab.3: Overview of the coin finds.
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157L. STANČO– SH. SHAYDULLAEV– A. AUGUSTINOVÁ– J. HAVLÍK– T. SMĚLÝ– A. SHAYDULLAEV... Tomáš Smělý Abalon,s.r.o. Branická 32 CZ‑147 00, Praha 4 [email protected] Odiljon Khamidov Institute of Archaeological Research named after Y. Gulyamov Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan Department of Archaeology of the Ancient period st. V. Abdullaev 3, Samarkand, Uzbekistan odiljon‑[email protected] Alisher Shaydullaev National University of Uzbekistan Faculty of History, Department of Archaeology Alabalar shaharchasi, Universitet‑4 Tashkent, Uzbekistan [email protected] Vlastimil Novák Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures Betlémské náměstí 1, CZ‑110 00, Praha 1 [email protected]
225PLATES Pl. 3/1: Map showing research areas and principal sites surveyed in 2017. Pl. 3/2: Map showing principal sites surveyed in 2017 in the Survey Area 1, Sarymas.