Products of plastic art from Araphana settlement in Lebap region (to a problem of studying ancient and medieval cultures of the population of the coasts of the Middle Amudarya)

The results of archaeological excavations on the banks of the Middle Amudarya (Lebap region of Turkmenistan) have made it possible to refer this region to the group of historic-cultural areas of the Middle Asia, where works of coroplastic were widely spread. Arapkhana settlements excavations showed a great number of interesting terracotta figures. Among them three statuettes are of the most interest. They symbolize the same image - goddess with a fruit (a woman in a long attire). Terracotta representing an image of a female figure in a scaled clothe is also of a great interest. The image of an imprint obtained from the matrix representing young nude woman refers to the type of nude female figures. A figure of a rider on horseback is of the most particular interest. Ceramic workshop discovered in Arapkhana testifies a wide spread of manufacturing terracotta figures in the settlements of Middle Amudarya.