MESOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC

6-4 thousand BC

Gargusha I-II archaeological sites

Neolithic monuments are located on one of the ancient terraces above the floodplain of
the Zeravshan valley, on the left bank of the river, in its middle course, 13 km north-east of
Samarkand.

Gargusha I was opened in the spring of 2010. Steady and heavy rains caused a landslide on the bank
of the Zeravshan. Remains of a cultural layer were found under the soil. Much of it was washed away
by the river. The landslide exposed a layer with a high concentration of ancient cultural remains.

The site occupies an elevated terrace 4-5 m above the water edge. The archaeological material is
concentrated on an area of 46 m2 stretches horizontally and varies in density. During the study of
the cultural deposits, more than 190 artefacts were discovered, as well as remains of fire and
household pits with material remains and traces of fires.

Much of the collection is represented by stone tools, which include microliths (82 items) and
ceramic articles decorated with straight and wavy lines, short notches and rounded indentations (42
fragments). They are practically identical to those from the Kavat group of monuments of the
Kelteminar community.

Interesting observations were made during the clearing of fire pits: in one of them six sheep ankle
bones (shagai/asyk/alchik), which were used in a traditional game, were recorded without traces of
being exposed to fire. Adornments of mollusc shells and a bone disk-shaped amulet with an engraving
in the form of the «tree of life» or «wheat ear», which lied next to a spearhead, were found in a
pit filled with ochre. The ankle bones, adornments, and the spearhead were deposited purposefully.
They were probably used in a ritual or ceremony. Two fragments of imported polychrome and
monochrome painted handmade dishes and adornments of semi-precious stones corresponding to the
Sarazm I and II period in the Chalcolithic (4th-3rd millennia BCE) with a Goksuyri-type ornament
occupy a special place in the collection.

Judging by the localization of the archaeological material, the monument occupied a small area in
ancient times. Most of the objects were found through continuous flotation of remains of the
cultural layer: 27 elements of adornments from processed shells with a drilled hole, 25 bone items,
5 fragments of spouts from Kelteminar vessels and fragments of
10 disc-shaped ceramic «whirls».

Every artefact is of high interest. The ceramics, with either pointed or flat bottoms, is highly
diverse in ornamentation characteristic of the Kelteminar community, which dates back to the
4th-3rd millennia BCE. The presence of tableware from various cultures in the complex indicates
active intertribal ties.

Gargusha II. During an archaeological survey in the autumn of 2010, a small collection of artefacts
was discovered on a limited area in the loess terraces on the left bank of the Zeravshan, 2 km from
the Gargusha I site. The archaeological layers had been redeposited during agricultural work.
Surface finds are identical to those from the site described above. The material is represented by
fragments of ceramics (33 items, 25 of which are ornamented), stone articles (35 items), including
a polished axe-adze, an arrowhead of the Kelteminar type, a few bone articles (3 items), and
strings of shells and molluscs (6 items).

Despite the apparent uniformity of the material culture of the monuments, it has a certain
originality, which is most clearly seen in stone and ceramic articles, which, however, retain the
main features of the Akchadarya variant of the Kelteminar cultural community. The analysis of the
material culture showed an active assimilation and integration process in the Central Asian
Interfluve.

The preservation and rescue work was carried out by N. A. Avanesova