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us to clearly say it was 2300 BC [4,300 years ago] that the charcoal was deposited [where the rock seal was found]. LMH: All of this seems to be pushing back our benchmark for the beginning of civilisation because you have to have an evolutionary arc to get up to 5,000 to 7,000 years ago with full-blown civilisation. Prof. Hiebert: Yes, and one of the methods we use in excavating is what we call "stratigraphic excava- tions", where we do very-small- sized excavations which are very leep. And these small-sized exca- vations allow us to compare the levelopment in an open site through time. At our site in Central Asia, called Anau, just across the Iranian border in the modern state of i Turkmenistan, we've documented curse {" ae x eu metres) foted ene complex dated r an least 1800 BC, in the Kara Kum desert of} almost continuous growth of the cul- entral Asia at Margiana, Turkmenistan, near the anistan border. in this area for at leas $ (Photograph courtesy Prof. Fredrik T. Hiebert, University of Pennsylvania, USA) years. ‘And thet ge ' a ra i 6 ay means is that we can rewrite the history books about the ancient _ back to the earliest farmers we have in the area. world. We are not really looking at separate, individually devel- And what's unique and special is it's clear to see that they used oping civilisations that weren't in contact with each other or didn't the same forms of farming and herding in Central Asia as did the know about each other. It seems quite clear that this new piece of | ancient Mesopotamian people. So, we've got clear evidence for the puzzle suggests there was a broad mosaic of cultures that the interaction and the co-development of farming levels in knew about each other and seemed to be growing in relationship —_ Central Asia, just as in Mesopotamia. So, we are looking at a part with each other. This is the importance of our work. of the world, even though it had been forgotten by Western schol- ars, which really takes its place as a partner in the development Linda Moulton Howe (LMH): How did you specifically date from the first farmers about 10,000 years ago, up to early villagers that seal that has the symbols? when we see the beginning of our settlement at Anau in Prof. Hiebert: The way archaeologists would date such a sin- Turkmenistan c. 4500 BC, all the way through to the development gle find like that would be to identify what level exactly it came __ of these large cities that we are finding out in the deserts. And I from in the excavation. And in this case, we were very lucky. It | am quite convinced that 5,000 years ago an ancient Sumerian was lying on the floor of a building and it was actually stratified | would have some understanding of what a Central Asian was or between different floors. And on the floor of that Particular build- what Central Asian artifacts were, and vice versa. Awd oka means is that we can rewrite the history books about the ancient world. We are not really looking at separate, individually devel- oping civilisations that weren't in contact with each other or didn't know about each other. It seems quite clear that this new piece of the puzzle suggests there was a broad mosaic of cultures that knew about each other and seemed to be growing in relationship with each other. This is the importance of our work. Linda Moulton Howe (LMH): How did you specifically date that seal that has the symbols? Prof. Hiebert: The way archaeologists would date such a sin- gle find like that would be to identify what level exactly it came from in the excavation. And in this case, we were very lucky. It was lying on the floor of a building and it was actually stratified between different floors. And on the floor of that particular build- ing, we found some charcoal. And charcoal allows us to radiocar- bon-date that level. We had four radiocarbon dates that allowed bon-date that level. We had four radiocarbon dates that allowed LMH: How big is the site now, so far, that you have excavated? Kazakhstan Prof. Hiebert: We've been looking at some of these large desert oasis sites in part of the Kara Kum desert of —=—. Turkmenistan, which cover an area of 100 miles long by 7 some 50 miles wide [161 by 80.5 km]. This is an area that is H simply dotted with archaeological sites. We call this an =| "ancient oasis". It would have been an area watered in the Uzbekistan ‘\—| past with irrigation canals and would have been a lush agri- cultural oasis where farming would have produced an abun- dance of wheat and barley. Today it's sandy. The sites are almost gone. It takes exca- vation to reveal the plans of these buildings. Once the build- eAnau “ ings are excavated, we see they are unlike any other area that we have previously worked in Mesopotamia or Iran. These re en ae , f buildings tend to be in the 300 to 500 foot [91.4 to 152.4 m] - length on each side, often having many series of walls that lran ie. 8 gs 'y enclose them, surrounded by the fields, the agricultural o 300 kin fo . fields. It's almost like a building complex with dozens and bn Afghanistan dozens of rooms inside them. Quite unusual, and apparently Map drawn by Ardeth Abrams. quite an organised society. Kazakhstan Turkmenistan lran 56 = NEXUS Map drawn by Ardeth Abrams. www.nexusmagazi ne.com AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2001