The main stages of the development process of Ancient Surkhan

Бюллетень науки и практики / Bulletin of Science and Practice

UDC 94 (575.1) 4                                    

Research of the primitive and most ancient period of the ancient Surkhandarya oasis have at their disposal mainly material sources, which study the population of this period and their appearance anthropological objects.

Results and its discussion

As a result of excavations carried out by A.P. Okladnikov in the Teshiktash cave in 1938, the assimilation of some caves in the Boysuntag area by humans shows that the process of formation of anthropogenic landscapes began in the Middle Paleolithic period [1]. Excavations revealed five cultural layers with the grave of a nine-year-old boy was found in the thickest upper (first) layer, which contained animal bones, stone tods, a compfire. Anthropologist M.M.Gerasimov restored his image. While G.F. Debets believes that the gender of the Teshiktash mas is male, V. P. Alekseev concludes that he must be a girl. Data obtained through DNA showed that the Teshiktash man belonged to the Neanderthal type.Ternes Ritsmans`s 2003-2004 research identified the Teshiktash man as the first Homo sapiens man [2, p. 51]. The people of the primitive period,who lived in the Amir Temur cave of the Middle and Upper Paleolithic period,where mainly enganged in hunting and gathering. By the Middle Paleolithic period, the types of weapons had increased, and they were mainly hunting weapons as spear-shaped; sharp-pointed ponies. Various labor and hunting tools of this period are known (stone knives, scrapers, cutters, sharp-edged stone fragments, etc.)

One of the most important achievements of primitive people was the mastery of fire. The climate of the Middle Paleolithic period was cold, people lived in caves, and traces of fires and ash remains were also found in these caves.

The mountains are rich in wildlife, and the bone remains of deer, mountain goats, wild horses, bears, lions, rabbits and birds have also been found in the Teshiktash cave area.

By the Mesolithic period, the riverbanks of Boysuntag were also mastered by humans. U. Islamov spoke about the formation of anthropogenic landscapes in the Machay cave of this period [3]. Another important problem in Uzbek history is that the beginning of the process of domestication of wild animals by humans was also carried out in the Machay Cave in Boysun. U. Islamov came to this conclusion on the basis of the analysis of the remains of large and small ungulates in the cultural layers of the Machay cave.

It is noteworthy that the Boysun mountain and foothill areas are suitable for animal husbandry, and in the cultural state of the monuments of this period are found a lot of remains of domestic animals. 90% of the bones found in Machay cave are pet bones [4; 5].

Since 2017, the Uzbekistan-Chinese archeological team led by B. Sayfullayev has been studying the Tuda cave on the southern slope of Boysuntag. The Tuda cave stone tools are very similar to the Mchay stone industry, and according to radiocarbon dates, the cave dates back to 5000 BC.

Archeological research shows that during the Mesolithic period, the population of Central Asia was not so densely populated. But it was among these populations that economic news first emerged and later spread throughout the more densely populated population, transforming society as a whole. According to anthropologist T. K. Khodjayev, in the Bronze Age in the southern regions of Central Asia there were tall, elongated, narrow-faced race [4, p. 9-10; 6].

Northern Bactria is considered to be one of the most favorable and fertile borders for ancient agriculture and animal husbandry in terms of its natural and geographical structure. The different geographical climatic conditions of the region often predetermine their historical development paths.

According to the system of the placement of monuments of the Bronze Age of Southern Uzbekistan, it is divided into 3 ancient agricultural oases, 1 mountain valley and 4 microdistritics. There are several microdistricts on the basis of rivers and their basin networks. They are Urgulsay, Bandikhan, Mirshodi, Sangardak-Tupalang oases. [7, p. 131].

It is known that the monuments of the Andronova culture spread from the west of southern Siberia to the south-eastern regions of the Ural Mountains. In recent years, A. Askarov said that “part of population of the Andronovo culture was Turkic-speaking”. Although the proponents of this idea are still lacking, Kazakh archaeologist K.M. Baypokov argues that part of the population of the Andronovo culture was Turkic-speaking [8, p. 10-12]. The basis is the written sources cited in ancient Chinese chronicals. The inhabitants of the Sopolli culture, which corresponded to the period of the Andronovo culture, formed an ethnic group with the inhabitants of Anov-Namazgoh, Murgab, Dashtli, Central and Eastern Iran and spoke one of the dialects of ancient Iranian languages. Ancient Bactria and Avesta were formed on the basis of this language [9, p. 12]. In the finds of the Kuzali and Sopolli culture in northern Bactria, traces of our Proturkic-speaking ancestors are clearly visible in material culture.

The historical roots of the Sopolli culture go back to the Bronze Age Anov-Namazgoh culture on the slopes of the North Capetta. In the first half of the 2nd millennium BC, the urban culture was formed in Oltintepa, the main object of central series of the region. The oldest peasant communities continued to develop economically and ethnoculturally in the Murgab oasis, and new first cities such as Gonur and Tugalok were built along the lower basin branches of the Murgab River. As a result, the Margiyana local center of the ancient eastern civilization was formed. River basins such as Balkhob, Kokcha, Dashtli, Sherabad, Ulanbulaksay are not left out of these economic and ethnocultural development processes. It is within these river basins that, according to new radiocarbon data, in 2200BC, that is, at the end of the 3rd millennium BC, another new center of ancient Eastern civilization, the historical and cultural region first mentioned in the future Avesta, Ancient Bactria,irrigated farming center. The territory of ancient Bactria is divided into two parts by the Amudarya, which passes through this region,and in its northern regions the Sopolli culture of the ancient peasant communities and in its southern regions (modern Northern Afghanistan) the Dashtli culture [10; 11].

The main reason why the inhabitants of the pottery culture inhabited the Muzrabad and later the Sherabad oasis is the presence of a natural “salt mountain” here. The oldest and main settlements of this culture are the monuments of Sopollitepa, Tillabulak, Tulkitepa, Gozkala, located directly around the Khojaikon salt deposit. The sale of salt, which is the main strategic product, is one of the main occupations of the population of this culture [12: p. 93].

They provided the ancient Eastern world with a natural salt product. This is the main reason for the richness of Bactrian material culture, especially the diversity of seals and their figurative expressions [13; 14].

The encounter of pottery typical of the pottery culture in the monuments of the Bronze Age in the territory of Northern Kazakhstan or the arrival of trades of the Harappa culture in Bactria (Shortogay) and the establishment of mutual trade and cultural ties, Bactria and Margiyana the discovery of many seals confirming the cultural ties of the lonian people with the Hittites through Iran confirms that the cultural and trade relations of the people of Sopolli culture were carried out over a very wide area [12, p. 93; 15; 16].

The symmetrical plan of the Sopollitepa monument and the composition and number of pottery fond in the tombs increase with age of the deceased, confirming the social equality of the Sopollitepa community, the role of the elders in community life and the harmony of the small population [17, p. 87; 18, p. 21].

Based on anthropological sources found in Sopollitepa and Jarkutan, T. Khodjayov determined that the population of the Sopollitepa culture belonged to the Eastern Miditerranean race. In general, anthropologists have found that in the Bronze Age, from the Caspian Sea to the Pamirs, the Mediterranean race was inhabited by a Central Asian two-river-type [19, p.78-79; 20].

According to the well-known scientist B. Eshov, the Surkhandarya oasis is one of the first urban centers not only in Uzbekistan, but in the whole of Central Asia, and there is good scientific basis to say that the date of urbanization in these regions is not less than 4,000 years [21, p. 29; 22].

Conclusions

In short, the territory of ancient Surkhandarya was first of all the historical monuments (Teshiktash), the area where they began the process of domestication of wild animals (Machay) on the southern slope of Mount Boysun Tuda cave stone with the development of weapons in exact accordance with the Machay stone industry; second, the population of the oasis is characterized by high achievements in the Bronze Age in areas such as irrigated agriculture, handicrafts and urban planning. This is also mentioned in a number of articles by the author of the article.