BRONZE AGE
3rd-2nd millennia BC
Jam antiquities
The monuments are located on the pediment of Karatube, in Jam, 60 km south-west of
Samarkand. They were discovered in 1994 by A. Yorkulov, a local historian from the village of Jam.
In 1998, N. A. Avanesova, Sh. B. Shaidullaev, and A. E. Berdimuradov (Samarkand Institute of
Archaeology) surveyed and studied six sites with Bronze Age material remains. They identified
burials made in different periods and dated to the 2nd millennium BCE, a time when various ancient steppe and farming civilisations developed.
All material remains were found on private plots during agricultural and construction activities by
residents of the Jam village. Remains of burial complexes recorded on a natural elevation locally
known as Galasherik in the south-eastern extremities of the village deserve special attention. They
included four burials, three of which belong to the Sapalli culture and the fourth one is
characteristic of the Fedorovo sub-culture of the Andronovo culture, which is supported by the
discovery of a pair of silver earrings with a funnel and ceramic items. The graves were identified
as underground. Each contained a single body in a crouched position on the left or right side. The
grave goods in two of the graves clearly bear signs of both pre-Andronovo cultures (ceramics,
single-edged knife) and communities from southern oases (Sapalli-Kelelin-type ceramics, mirrors,
pins). A number of factors indicate that in the Bronze Age the pastoral tribes of the North and the
ancient farmers of the South were closely related. This was facilitated by the favourable
environment in the Zeravshan valley and the abundance of natural resources in the region,
especially rich deposits of copper, tin, and gold.
The complex dynamics of different cultural elements indicates that the Bronze Age was not
characterised by cultural isolation.
Samarkand. They were discovered in 1994 by A. Yorkulov, a local historian from the village of Jam.
In 1998, N. A. Avanesova, Sh. B. Shaidullaev, and A. E. Berdimuradov (Samarkand Institute of
Archaeology) surveyed and studied six sites with Bronze Age material remains. They identified
burials made in different periods and dated to the 2nd millennium BCE, a time when various ancient steppe and farming civilisations developed.
All material remains were found on private plots during agricultural and construction activities by
residents of the Jam village. Remains of burial complexes recorded on a natural elevation locally
known as Galasherik in the south-eastern extremities of the village deserve special attention. They
included four burials, three of which belong to the Sapalli culture and the fourth one is
characteristic of the Fedorovo sub-culture of the Andronovo culture, which is supported by the
discovery of a pair of silver earrings with a funnel and ceramic items. The graves were identified
as underground. Each contained a single body in a crouched position on the left or right side. The
grave goods in two of the graves clearly bear signs of both pre-Andronovo cultures (ceramics,
single-edged knife) and communities from southern oases (Sapalli-Kelelin-type ceramics, mirrors,
pins). A number of factors indicate that in the Bronze Age the pastoral tribes of the North and the
ancient farmers of the South were closely related. This was facilitated by the favourable
environment in the Zeravshan valley and the abundance of natural resources in the region,
especially rich deposits of copper, tin, and gold.
The complex dynamics of different cultural elements indicates that the Bronze Age was not
characterised by cultural isolation.
- Avanesova, N. A., Shaidullaev, S. B., Yorkulov, A. On the cultural associationof the Jam Palaeometallic antiquities [K voprosu o kulturnoy prinadlezhnosti dzhamskikhdrevnostey epokhi paleometalla] // Civilisations of Central Asia: farmers and pastoralists.Traditions and modernity. Samarkand-Bishkek: IICAS, 1997. PP. 12-13.
