The Iron Gate and its environs in the Hellenistic period. Preliminary report for archaeological research in the Baysun District (South Uzbekistan), Season 2019

Abstract

is report summarizes the starting points, methods and results of the archaeological research of the Czech-Uzbek team investigating the Hellenistic se†lements in the vicinity of Darband, in the upper reaches of the Sherabad Darya, in the Baysun District of southern Uzbekistan in season 2019. A significant amount of archaeological material has been obtained using a systematic surface metal detector survey and targeted excavations of a limited scope. We were able to confirm that some of these sites, such as Daganajam Tepa and perhaps also Mirzali, were inhabited only in the Hellenistic period, while in the case of the others, a se†lement in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC was only one of their occupation phases (Kapchigay Tepa, Darband wall).

Keywords

• darband wall
• surface survey
• metal detectors
• bactria
• hellenistic period
• baysun mountains
• kugitang piedmonts