Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex

thumb|upright=1.2|Archaeological cultures associated with [[Indo-Iranian migrations (after EIEC). The Andronovo, BMAC and Yaz cultures have often been associated with Indo-Iranian migrations. The GGC (Swat), Cemetery H, Copper Hoard and PGW cultures are candidates for cultures associated with Indo-Aryan migrations.]]

The Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC) is the modern archaeological designation for a particular Middle Bronze Age civilisation of southern Central Asia, also known as the Oxus Civilization. The civilisation's urban phase or Integration Era was dated in 2010 by Sandro Salvatori to –1950 BC,

Although commonly referred to as the “Oxus civilization” and formally designated as the “Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex” (BMAC), recent studies have questioned the geographic adequacy of these terms. While the traditional labels emphasise the concentration of major urban sites in Margiana and northern Bactria, new archaeological surveys and excavations show that the cultural core of this Bronze Age complex was considerably broader. Significant sites have been documented across northeastern Iran, within the historical region of Greater Khorasan, including newly excavated settlements such as Tepe Chalow, Kalat-e Yavar, and Shahrak-e Firouzeh, along with numerous surveyed locations exhibiting characteristic BMAC material culture.

On the basis of this wider distribution—extending from Sabzevar and Nishapur to the Murghab delta and Tajikistan—some scholars (e.g., Biscione & Vahdati) argue that “BMAC” and “Oxus Civilization” are overly restrictive, either overlooking formative areas or limiting the phenomenon to Bactria and Margiana.". Because the full spread of sites corresponds closely to the historical expanse of Greater Khorasan and reflects long-term cultural continuity into the Iron Age and later periods, these authors propose the broader term “Greater Khorasan Civilization” (GKC) for this archaeological complex.

There are a few later (–1450 BC) sites in northern Bactria, today southern Uzbekistan, but they are mostly graveyards belonging to the BMAC-related Sapalli culture. A single BMAC site, known as Dashli, lies in southern Bactria, current territory of northern Afghanistan. Sites found further east, in southwestern Tajikistan, though contemporary with the main BMAC sites in Margiana, are only graveyards, with no urban developments associated with them.

The civilisation was named BMAC by the Soviet archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi in 1976 when he was excavating in northern Afghanistan (1969–1979). Sarianidi's excavations from the late 1970s onward revealed numerous monumental structures in many sites, fortified by impressive walls and gates. Reports on the BMAC were primarily published in Soviet journals. A journalist from The New York Times wrote in 2001 that during the years of the Soviet Union, the findings were largely unknown to the West until Sarianidi's work began to be translated in the 1990s. However, some publications by Soviet authors, like Masson, Sarianidi, Atagarryev, and Berdiev, had been available to the West, translated in the first half of 1970s, slightly before Sarianidi labelled the findings as BMAC.

Origin and chronology

Italian archaeologists, like Massimo Vidale and Dennys Frenez, support Sandro Salvatori's hypothesis that Namazga V is the beginning of the ultimate urban phase called BMAC, belonging to the Integration Era (c. 2400–1950 BC). On the other hand, Russian and French archaeologists Nadezhda Dubova and Bertille Lyonnet consider there was a gap between the end of Namazga III phase and the beginning of BMAC in Margiana, and that most of the sites both in Margiana and Bactria were founded on virgin soil only around 2250 BC lasting until 1700 BC.

Etymology

The region was first named Bakhdi in Old Persian, which then formed the Persian satrapy of Marguš (perhaps from the Sumerian term Marhasi), the capital of which was Merv, in modern-day southeastern Turkmenistan. It was then called Bāxtriš in Middle Persian, and Baxl in New Persian. The region was also mentioned in ancient Sanskrit texts as or . The modern term Bactria is derived from Ancient Greek (), modern Balkh.

Early Food-Producing Era

There is archaeological evidence of settlement in the well-watered northern foothills of the Kopet Dag during the Jeitun era (7200−4600 BC). In this region, mud brick houses were first occupied during the Jeitun, also called the Early Food-Producing Era. The inhabitants were farmers with origins in West Asia who kept herds of goats and sheep and grew wheat and barley. Jeitun has given its name to the whole Neolithic in the northern foothills of the Köpet Dag. At the late Neolithic site of Chagylly Depe, farmers increasingly grew the kinds of crops that are typically associated with irrigation in an arid environment, such as hexaploid bread wheat, which became predominant during the Chalcolithic period. This region is dotted with the multi-period hallmarks characteristic of the ancient Near East, similar to those southwest of the Köpet Dag in the Gorgan Plain of Iran.

Regionalization Era

The Regionalization Era begins in Anau IA with a pre-Chalcolithic phase also in the Kopet Dag piedmont region from 4600 to 4000 BC, then the Chalcolithic period develops from 4000 to 2800 BC in Namazga I-III, Ilgynly Depe, and Altyn Depe. (Vadim was the son of archaeologist Mikhail Masson, who had previously already started work in this same area.) By contrast, a re-excavation of Monjukli Depe in 2010 found a distinct break in settlement history between the late Neolithic and early Chalcolithic eras there.

thumb|right|Altyn-Depe location on the modern [[Middle East map as well as location of other Eneolithic cultures (Harappa and Mohenjo-daro).]]

Major chalcolithic settlements sprang up at Kara-Depe and Namazga-Depe. In addition, there were smaller settlements at Anau, Dashlyji, and Yassy-depe. Settlements similar to the early level at Anau also appeared further east– in the ancient delta of the river Tedzen, the site of the Geoksiur Oasis. About 3500 BC, the cultural unity of the area split into two pottery styles: colourful in the west (Anau, Kara-Depe and Namazga-Depe) and more austere in the east at Altyn-Depe and the Geoksiur Oasis settlements. This may reflect the formation of two tribal groups. It seems that around 3000 BC, people from Geoksiur migrated into the Murghab delta (where small, scattered settlements appeared) and reached further east into the Zerafshan Valley in Transoxiana. In both areas pottery typical of Geoksiur was in use. In Transoxiana they settled at Sarazm near Pendjikent. To the south the foundation layers of Shahr-i Sōkhta on the bank of the Helmand River in south-eastern Iran contained pottery of the Altyn-Depe and Geoksiur type. Thus the farmers of Iran, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan were connected by a scattering of farming settlements.

In the Early Bronze Age, at the end of the Late Regionalization Era (2800 to 2400 BC), This urban development is considered to have lasted, not from 2400 BC, but from to 1700 BC by Lyonnet and Dubova's recent publication. Massimo Vidale (2017) considers that the Kelleli phase was characterised by the appearance of the first palatial compounds from 2400 to 2000 BC. Sandro Salvatori (1998) commented that Kelleli phase began sightly later than Namazga V period.

Margiana, Gonur phase

Gonur phase was considered, by Sarianidi, as a southward movement of the previous Kelleli phase people. However French and Russian scholars like Lyonnet and Dubova date it to -1700 BC. but its beginning is probably later than 2300 BC, although earlier than 2000 BC, if new datings for BMAC by Lyonnet and Dubova are taken into account. The old Dashly 3 complex, sometimes identified as a palace, is a fortified rectangular 88 m x 84 m compound. The square building had massive double outer walls and in the middle of each wall was a protruding salient composed of a T-shaped corridor flanked by two L-shaped corridors.

Southwestern Tajikistan

New archaeological research has recently found at three ancient cemeteries in southwestern Tajikistan called Farkhor, Gelot (in Kulob District), and Darnajchi, ceramics influenced by Namazga IV and Namazga V transitional period from Early to Middle Bronze Age, which can suggest a presence of BMAC inhabitants in this region earlier considered out of their influx. Gelot's grave N6-13 was dated to 2203–2036 cal BC (2 sigma), and Darnajchi's grave N2-2 as 2456-2140 cal BC (2 sigma). Farkhor's cemetery is located on the right bank of Panj river, very near the Indus Civilization's site Shortughai.

Material culture

thumb|Bird-headed man with snakes; 2000–1500 BC; bronze; 7.30 cm; from Northern Afghanistan; [[Los Angeles County Museum of Art (USA)]]

Agriculture and economy

The inhabitants of the BMAC were sedentary people who practised irrigation farming of wheat and barley. With their impressive material culture including monumental architecture, bronze tools, ceramics, and jewellery of semiprecious stones, the complex exhibits many of the hallmarks of civilisation. The complex can be compared to proto-urban settlements in the Helmand basin at Mundigak in western Afghanistan and Shahr-e Sukhteh in eastern Iran, or at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro in the Indus Valley.

Models of two-wheeled carts from found at Altyn-Depe are the earliest evidence of wheeled transport in Central Asia, though model wheels have come from contexts possibly somewhat earlier. Judging by the type of harness, carts were initially pulled by oxen or a bull. However, camels were domesticated within the BMAC. A model of a cart drawn by a camel of was found at Altyn-Depe.

Art

Fertility goddesses, named "Bactrian princesses", made from limestone, chlorite and clay reflect agrarian Bronze Age society, while the extensive corpus of metal objects point to a sophisticated tradition of metalworking. Wearing large stylised dresses, as well as headdresses that merge with the hair, "Bactrian princesses" embody the ranking goddess, character of the Central Asian mythology that plays a regulatory role, pacifying the untamed forces.

Bactrian princess-AO 22918-IMG 0239-black.jpg|Female figurine of the "Bactrian princess" type; between 3rd millennium and 2nd millennium BC; chlorite mineral group (dress and headdresses) and limestone (face and neck); height: 17.3 cm, width: 16.1 cm; Louvre

Shaft-hole axe head with bird-headed demon, boar, and dragon MET 1982.5.jpg|Axe with eagle-headed demon & animals; late 3rd millennium-early 2nd millennium BC; gilt silver; length: 15 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)

Bactrian camel MET DP-14200-001.jpg|Camel figurine; late 3rd–early 2nd millennium BCE; copper alloy; 8.89 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art

Monstrous male figure MET dp22227.jpg|Male figure; late 3rd–early 2nd millennium BC; chlorite, calcite, gold and iron; height: 10.1 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art

Axe head MET 1989.281.39.jpg|Axe head; late 3rd–early 2nd millennium BC; copper alloy; height: 2.8 cm, length: 7.2 cm, thickness: 1.8 cm, weight: 82.5 g; Metropolitan Museum of Art

"Bactrian Princess"; late 3rd–early 2nd millennium BC; grey chlorite and calcite; Barbier-Mueller Museum (Geneva, Switzerland).jpg|Female figurine of the "Bactrian princess" type; between 3rd millennium and 2nd millennium BC; grey chlorite (dress and headdresses) and calcite (face); Barbier-Mueller Museum (Geneva, Switzerland)

"Bactrian Princess"; late 3rd–early 2nd millennium BC; grey chlorite and calcite; Barbier-Mueller Museum (Geneva, Switzerland) 1.jpg|Female figurine of the "Bactrian princess" type; between 3rd millennium and 2nd millennium BC; grey chlorite (dress and headdresses) and calcite (face); Barbier-Mueller Museum

Beaker with birds on the rim MET DT866.jpg|Beaker with birds on the rim; late 3rd–early 2nd millennium BC; electrum; height: 12 cm, width: 13.3 cm, depth: 4.5 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art

Handled Weight LACMA M.2001.11 (1 of 3).jpg|Handled weight; late 3rd–early 2nd millennium BC; chlorite; 25.08 x 19.69 x 4.45 cm; Los Angeles County Museum of Art (USA)

Seated Female Figure LACMA M.2000.1a-f (1 of 3).jpg|Female figurine of the "Bactrian princess" type; 2500–1500; chlorite (dress and headdresses) and limestone (head, hands and a leg); height: 13.33 cm; Los Angeles County Museum of Art (USA)

Vessel with Gilloche Pattern LACMA AC1995.5.7.jpg|Vessel with guilloche pattern; 2000–1500; chlorite; 3.33 x 6.67 x 3.81 cm; Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Kaunakes Bactria-AO 31917-IMG 0237.JPG|Female figurine of the "Bactrian princess" type; 2nd millennium BC; chlorite and calcite; Louvre

Seated Goddess, Western Central Asia, Bronze Age Bactria, late 3rd-early 2nd millenium BCE, chlorite and limestone, Miho Museum, Japan.jpg|Seated goddess, an example of a "Bactrian princess", Bronze Age Bactria, Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex, circa 2000 BC. chlorite and limestone. Central Asian art, Miho Museum, Japan.

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Architecture

thumb|upright=1.5|BMAC bronze tools. [[J. P. Mallory|Mallory points out that the BMAC fortified settlements such as Gonur and Togolok resemble the qila, the type of fort known in this region in the historical period. They may be circular or rectangular and have up to three encircling walls. Within the forts are residential quarters, workshops and temples.

The people of the BMAC culture were very proficient at working in a variety of metals including bronze, copper, silver, and gold. This is attested through the many metal artefacts found throughout the sites.

Extensive irrigation systems have been discovered at Geoksyur Oasis.

Archaeological interactions with neighbouring cultures

Early Bronze Age

BMAC materials have been found in the Indus Valley civilisation, on the Iranian Plateau, and in the Persian Gulf.

According to Neda Moradi (2024),

:"Tepe Hissar was part of the so-called "interaction sphere" of Central Asia, spanning from the early fourth millennium to the beginning of the second millennium BCE. This cultural sphere covered a vast area from southern Mesopotamia to the Indus Valley, including Iranian plateau, the Persian Gulf region, Afghanistan, and western Central Asia, where powerful political-economic systems were established around 3500 BCE." In southern Bactrian sites like Sappali Tepe too, increasing links with the Andronovo culture are seen. During the period 1700 – 1500 BCE, metal artefacts from Sappali Tepe derive from the Tazabagyab-Andronovo culture.

New research in the Murghab region, in excavations at defensive walls of Adji Kui 1, showed pastoralists present, and living on the edge of the town, as early as the second half of the Middle Bronze Age (-1960 BC), coexisting with the BMAC population that lived in the 'citadel.'

Relationship with Indo-Iranians

The Bactria–Margiana complex has attracted attention as a candidate for those looking for the material counterparts to the Indo-Iranians. This branch split off from the Proto-Indo-Europeans and is associated with Indo-Iranian languages.

For example, Sarianidi advocated identifying the complex as Indo-Iranian, describing it as the result of a migration from southwestern Iran. Bactria–Margiana material has been found at Susa, Shahdad, and Tepe Yahya in Iran.

Mallory/Adams (1997) associated the Andronovo, BMAC and Yaz cultures with Indo-Iranian migrations, writing,

Anthony (2007) sees the culture as begun by farmers in the Neolithic in the Near East, but infiltrated by Indo-Iranian speakers from the Andronovo culture in its late phase, creating a hybrid. In this perspective, the proto-Indo-Aryan language developed within the composite culture before moving south into what is now Iran and then east into the Indian subcontinent. and Alexander Lubotsky, there is a proposed substratum in proto-Indo-Iranian that can be plausibly identified with the original language of the BMAC. Moreover, Lubotsky points out a larger number of words borrowed from the same language which are only attested in Indo-Aryan languages and therefore evidence of a substratum in Vedic Sanskrit. He explains this by proposing that Indo-Aryan speakers probably formed the vanguard of the movement into south-central Asia and many of the BMAC loanwords which entered Iranian may have been mediated through Indo-Aryan. Archaeologist Julio Bendezu-Sarmiento, mentioning N. A. Dubova's (2015) article, comments that this was an "almost complete skeleton of a foal" resting on the wagon with "wheels circled by bronze bands" and radiocarbon-dated to 2250 BCE. So he considers this horse and the wagon are "one and a half century prior" to similar burials of Sintashta culture.]]

thumb|BMAC genetic profiles. Succeeding cultures, specifically the [[Yaz culture, was characterised by a combination of BMAC and Yamnaya/WSH ancestries, and associated with early Indo-Iranians. Narasimshan et al. (2019) found no essential genetic contributions from the BMAC in later South Asians, suggesting that the Steppe-related ancestry was mediated via other groups.

Genetic data on Iron Age samples from modern-day Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan confirm the admixture between local BMAC groups and Andronovo-related populations, at the end of Oxus Civilization. These Southern Central Asian Iron Age population derived around 57% of their ancestry from Western Steppe Herders (Andronovo) and c. 43% from the BMAC culture population. Modern day Tajiks and Yaghnobis were found to be direct descendants of the Bronze and Iron Age Central Asian populations, deriving ancestry from both the Yamnaya-like Western Steppe Herders and BMAC groups, and showing genetic continuity to historical Indo-Iranians. These Iron Age Central Asians also displayed a higher genetic affinity to present-day Europeans than present-day Uzbeks, who harbour an additional component derived from an East Asian-like source "through several admixture events over the past ~2,000 years", absent from Iron Age Uzbeks and modern Europeans.

Sites

In Afghanistan

thumb|[[Tepe Fullol bowl fragment, 3rd millennium BCE, National Museum of Afghanistan.]]

Dashli, Jowzjan Province
Khush Tepe (Tepe Fullol)

In Turkmenistan

Altyndepe
Gonur Tepe
Jeitun
Namazga-Tepe
Togolok 21
Ulug Depe
Berdysyčran-depe

In Uzbekistan

Ayaz-Kala
Djarkutan
Koi Krylgan Kala
Sappali tepe

In Iran

Tepe Chalow, Sankhast
Tepe Kalat-e Yavar, Bojnord
Shahrak-e Firouzeh, Nishapur
Razeh Graveyard, Birjand

References

Sources

External links

Black Sands – A documentary about the Gonur Tepe archaeological site
Sarianidi archaeological expedition at Gonur Tepe archaeological site