Cultures in contact : Central Asia as focus of trade, cultural exchange and knowledge transmission : [Second international conference on Central Asian Archaeology, 13-15 february 2020

Central Asia is a vast region separating and at the same time connecting the civilizations of the Near East, East Asia and the Indian subcontinent with each other and with the neighboring nomadic cultures. This richly illustrated book reflects the contributions of a conference that took place in Bern in 2020 and includes 32 contributions from 56 authors from 18 countries. The conference evaluated the supra-, inter-, and intraregional modes of cultural exchange and knowledge transfer like trade, migration, missionary activities or military encounters. This exchange occurred within Central Asia, from the outside into Central Asia or conversely out of Central Asia to neighboring cultures. The timeframe considered was from the Early Bronze Age to the period of Amir Timur (end of the 14th century CE) and the geographic scope stretched from the eastern Caucasus in the west till Xinjiang in the east and from southern Siberia in the north till Baluchistan in the south. All papers presented were based upon new archaeological investigations, surveys and discoveries. Most of the contributions suggest that in Central Asia, based on its specific geopolitical location, typical "contact cultures" blossomed which were influenced to varying degrees by the neighboring cultures and thus produced many facets of cultural hybridisation. The conclusions of many of the excavations presented here will be published in English for the first time. Each article is accompanied by an extensive bibliography and a Russian abstract. Archaeology Cover 1 Title Pages 3 Contents 6 General Overview and Topographical Maps 9 Christoph Baumer, Mirko Novák and Susanne Rutishauser: Introduction 12 Turkmenistan 24 Michael Mäder: Bronze Age Sceptres and Staffs from Elam and Margiana, and their Possible Names in Cuneiform and Linear Elamite 26 Luca Forni: Sharing Spiritual Life and Belief in the Murghab Region (Southern Turkmenistan). New Evidence from Bronze Age Seals 46 Gian Luca Bonora: Lock-shaped Stone Handbags (Pierres Ansées) from Central Asia. Typology, Distribution, and New Findings 62 Barbara Cerasetti, Roberto Arciero, Traci N. Billings, Maurizio Cattani, Luana D’Ippolito, Luca Forni, Elise Luneau, Kyle G. Olson, Alberto C. Potenza, Lynne M. Rouse, Robert N. Spengler III: The Rise and Decline of the Desert Cities. The Last Stages of the BMAC at Togolok 1 (Southern Turkmenistan) 100 Aydogdy Kurbanov: Between Two Cultures. The Archaeological Record of Akdepe 128 Uzbekistan/Tajikistan/Afghanistan/Pakistan 144 Johanna Lhuillier: Intercultural Interactions of the Sine Sepulchro Cultural Community (Handmade Painted Ware Cultures) of the Early Iron Age with the Neighbouring Cultures of Asia and the Near East 146 Sonja Kroll, Mike Teufer, Natalia Vinogradova, Yuri Kutimov, Giovanna Lombardo, Delphine Bosch, Marjan Mashkour: Isotopic Studies and Archaeological Evidence in Bronze Age Tajikistan. The “Lady from Gelot” 164 Andrei V. Omel’chenko: Nomadic Influence in Sogdian Domains. New Discoveries of Ancient Weapons in the Bukhara Oasis (Uzbekistan) 178 Alisher Begmatov: Cross-cultural Exchange across Eurasia as Reflected in the Sealings from Kafir-kala in Samarkand 204 Sara Peterson: A Study of the Gold Folding Crown from Tillâ-Tepeas an Indicator of Cultural Exchange 216 Shakirdjan R. Pidaev: Monumental Narrative Paintings of Karatepa in Old Termez, South Uzbekistan 236 Claude Rapin, Mutalib Khasanov, and Shokhimardan Rakhmanov: The Iron Gates Wall near Derbent (Uzbekistan). From Alexander the Great to the 19th Century 244 Silvia Pozzi and Sirojiddin Mirzaahmedov: Bactrian Influences in the Early Medieval Re-foundation of Vardāna 272 Jacopo Bruno and Gabriele Puschnigg: Reflections on Ceramics in the Bukhara Oasis. New Data from the MAFOUB Project 288 Ilaria Vincenzi: Uch Kulakh: Cultural Contacts in the Early Medieval Period 300 Ehsan Shavarebi: Gesticulationes Sogdianorum. A Preliminary Study of Hand Gestures in Sogdian Iconography: their Origins and Significance 316 Michael Shenkar, Sharof Kurbanov, Abdurahmon Pulotov, and Firuz Aminov: The Eastern Zeravshan Valley in the Early Islamic Period (8th to 9th Century CE). New Evidence from the Sanjar-Shah Excavations (2016–2019) 338 Pavel B. Lurje: The Three Brothers’ Houses? An Elusive Modular Block in Ancient Panjikent 362 Djangar Ilyasov: End of a Long Way. Tamga Signs on Ceramics from Qarshovul Tepa 388 Djamaliddin K. Mirzaahmedov, Munira N. Sultanova and Shuxrat T. Adylov: Early Karakhanid Glazed Ceramics of Bukhara. Based on a Corpus of Material from the Citadel of Vardanzeh 404 Azim Malikov: The Cultural Traditions of Urban Planning in Samarkand during the Epoch of Timur 418 Julio Bendezu-Sarmiento: Archaeological Survey and First Preliminary Results of the Site of Shahr-i Gholghola (Afghanistan). The Bamiyan Valley as a Centre of Trade and Cultural Exchange 432 Azerbaijan 454 Farda Asadov: Archaeological Evidence of the Presence of the Khazars in the Territory of Azerbaijan in the 7th to 10th Century CE 456 Shahin Mustafayev: Archaeological Representations of Caspian Trade Routes in North-eastern Azerbaijan 464 Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan 476 Bakyt E. Amanbaeva: New Information on the Ak-Beshim Site (Chui Valley, Northern Kyrgyzstan) 478 Valerii A. Kolchenko: Hearth Pedestals of the Medieval Chuy Valley as Ethno-cultural and Chronological Indicators (of the Genesis of the Medieval Cities of the Chuy Valley) 484 Charles A. Stewart and Steven T. Gilbert: Ili Valley Settlement. Trade along the Northern Silk Route 494 Dmitriy Voyakin: The Hidden Oghuz. Some Remarks on the Archaeological Investigation of the Kesken-Kuyuk-Kala Site 514 Xinjiang and Tuva 540 Alexey A. Kovalev: The Chemurchek (Qie’muerqieke) Cultural Phenomenon. As a Result of Western European Migration to Dzungaria and the Mongolian Altai(on Archaeological Data) 542 Tomas Larsen Høisæter: The Kingdom of Kroraina. At the Crossroads of the Ancient World 566 Marina E. Kilunovskaya and Pavel M. Leus: Burials with Openwork Belt Plaques of the Xiongnu Period from Tuva 578 Gino Caspari: The Earliest “Scythians” in Tuva and the World Beyond. Architectural Ideas and Interacti 598 Comprehensive Index of Toponyms 612 List of Authors 624 Archaeology,Ethnology,History,Cultural Studies,Oriental Studies,Religious Studies,Turkish Studies Ancient Near Eastern Studies,Central Asian Studies,Islamic Archaeology,Classical Studies,Geography of settlement Archaeology,Ethnology,History,Cultural Studies,Oriental Studies,Religious Studies,Turkish Studies,Ancient Near Eastern Studies,Central Asian Studies,Islamic Archaeology,Classical Studies,Geography of settlement