THE MOUSTERIAN
150-40 thousand BC
Zirabulak ancient site
The Zirabulak Mousterian site was discovered in 1971 by a team of researchers from the
Institute of Archaeology, Academy of Sciences of the Uzbek SSR, headed by Yu. F. Buryakov. The site
is located in Narpai district, Samarkand Region, near the Zirabulak spring at the foot of the
Zirabulak Mountains, at an altitude of 470 m above sea level. Initial archaeological research was
carried out by N. H. Tashkenbayev (1971-1972) on a total area of 32 m2. Archaeological layers were
redeposited by agricultural work.
In 1977-1978 and in 1980-1981, the site was studied by M. D. Jurakulov and B. A. Amirkulov. The
researchers made two probe trenches, where they found a total of about 5,900 stone tools and items
of production waste, as well as more than 1,200 items of palaeofaunistic remains. The finds were
discovered at depths from the ground surface to 2.5 m. Stratigraphy did not reveal a cultural
layer. The collected stone tools are patinised, typologically characteristic of the Mousterian and
include scrapers of various subtypes, shortened points, plane tools, burins, blade knives (some
retouched), disc-shaped and prismatic cores. The items are made using the splitting technique with
the preservation of the striking platform. Stone tools from Zirabulak are analogous to materials
from Kuturbulak, Obirahmat and Teshik-Tash. By their
technical features and appearance the articles are dated to the late Mousterian.
Institute of Archaeology, Academy of Sciences of the Uzbek SSR, headed by Yu. F. Buryakov. The site
is located in Narpai district, Samarkand Region, near the Zirabulak spring at the foot of the
Zirabulak Mountains, at an altitude of 470 m above sea level. Initial archaeological research was
carried out by N. H. Tashkenbayev (1971-1972) on a total area of 32 m2. Archaeological layers were
redeposited by agricultural work.
In 1977-1978 and in 1980-1981, the site was studied by M. D. Jurakulov and B. A. Amirkulov. The
researchers made two probe trenches, where they found a total of about 5,900 stone tools and items
of production waste, as well as more than 1,200 items of palaeofaunistic remains. The finds were
discovered at depths from the ground surface to 2.5 m. Stratigraphy did not reveal a cultural
layer. The collected stone tools are patinised, typologically characteristic of the Mousterian and
include scrapers of various subtypes, shortened points, plane tools, burins, blade knives (some
retouched), disc-shaped and prismatic cores. The items are made using the splitting technique with
the preservation of the striking platform. Stone tools from Zirabulak are analogous to materials
from Kuturbulak, Obirahmat and Teshik-Tash. By their
technical features and appearance the articles are dated to the late Mousterian.
ERA
- On the prospects for studying the Paleolithic space of Zirabulak [Zirabulok paleolit makonini urganish istikbollari khakida] // Questions of the ancient world, history and ethnography. Collection of academic articles. Samarkand, 1982.
- Tashkenbayev, N. Kh. Zirabulak complex of Palaeolithic monuments in Uzbekistan [Zirabulakskiy kompleks paleoliticheskikh pamyatnikov Uzbekistana] // To the origins of the history of Central Asia. Tashkent, 1994.
- Tashkenbayev, N. H., Suleymanov, R. H. Th e culture of the Ancient Stone Age in the Zeravshan valley [Kultura drevnekamennogo veka doliny Zeravshana]. Tashkent: Fan, 1980.
