After a long break due to the Covid–19 pandemic, the European archaeological project “TAP-Togolok” (Togolok Archaeological Project), headed by Dr. Barbara Cerasetti, will resume work in Turkmenistan in September 2023 at the Bronze Age settlement of Togolok 1 in the Murghab region on the territory of ancient Margiana, the TAP Togolok project reports.
Ancient Margiana, once located in the Murghab River delta in southern Turkmenistan, was often mistakenly considered historically and archaeologically marginal area between the Indus Valley to the east and Mesopotamia to the west.
Since 1990, the Italian-Turkmen Archaeological Mission has carried out many research projects in Turkmenistan, one of which was the creation of an archaeological map of the Murghab Delta in the context of exploring the settlements in the Bronze and Iron Ages.
For more than 30 years, the mission has explored an area of more than 20,000 square kilometers. As a result, about 2,000 sites have been registered, dating from the Bronze Age to the Islamic period.
Since 2014, the mission’s efforts have been focused on the Togolok-1 site, which allowed collecting a large amount of data on the latest occupation phases of one of the most important and extensive settlements in the Murghab region.
ISMEO – The International Association for Mediterranean and Oriental Studies, together with the Turkmen Ministry of Culture, is the main partner of the TAP Project and the main sponsor, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
Other partners are the Freie Universität Berlin, the Universität Bern, the Max-Planck-Institut für Geoanthropologie of Jena, the University of Bologna, the University of Salento, the University of Naples “L’Orientale”, and the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut of Berlin.
Among the numerous research supporters, the Embassy of Italy in Turkmenistan is providing a significant contribution to the project.
In collaboration with a team from the Universität Bern, a joint archaeological mission will investigate the northern mound of Togolok 1 and its surrounding territory through a wide magnetometer survey. Three large trenches will be opened in order to restore a continuous and reliable chronological sequence and to understand the close connection between local farmers and nomadic pastoralists from the northern steppes.
The field work will last four weeks. Turkmen specialists from the Ancient Merv State Historical and Cultural Park and the Mary Historical Museum will be also involved in the expedition.
The Togolok-1 study represents an excellent opportunity not only from a scientific point of view, but also symbolizes the thirtieth anniversary of cooperation between Italy and Turkmenistan. ///nCa, 23 June 2023
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