Ulug-Depe
Ulug Depé · Ulug Depe South · Dushak Ulug
Jeitun (6000) → Anau–Namazga (4500–1800) → BMAC → Achaemenid–Parthian 500 BCE–300 CE·Kopet oasis continuous (Jeitun → BMAC → Persian)·🇹🇲 Ahal Province, Kaahka District near Dushak (110 km SE of Ashgabat, Kopet foothills–Karakum transition), Turkmenistan
About
About Ulug-Depe
Longest-lived oasis tell in southern Turkmenistan (c.6000 BCE–Medieval) at Dushak north of Kaahka — 15 ha mound 32 m high with continuous 8000-year stratigraphy excavated since 2001 by Olivier Lecomte and Julio Bendezu-Sarmiento (French-Turkmen MAFTur). Ulug-Depe shows all Kopet phases: Jeitun basal (6000 BCE) → Anau → Namazga I–VI → BMAC (Gonur horizon) → Achaemenid–Parthian fortress with mudbrick citadel 400×400 m Iron Age walls 10 m thick. Famous for Parthian rhyton and BMAC burial wealth proving continuity after Namazga decline unlike neighboring tells, making it the rosetta for entire 6000 BCE to 1000 CE Kopet sequence.
Why it mattersLongest Central Asia sequence (8000 years) — only Kopet tell with Jeitun to Parthian unbroken, bridging BMAC after Namazga abandonment.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why Ulug survived 1800 BCE collapse when Namazga fell?
Theories
- 01Ulug as Kopet refuge oasis (Lecomte's continuity model)
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.6000 BCE Jeitun basal village on Ulug mound
- Period
- Jeitun (6000) → Anau–Namazga (4500–1800) → BMAC → Achaemenid–Parthian 500 BCE–300 CE
- Culture
- Kopet oasis continuous (Jeitun → BMAC → Persian)
- Builders
- Kopet farmers → BMAC urbanists → Parthian fort builders
- Purpose
- Continuous oasis stronghold guarding Kopet–Karakum route and later Parthian citadel between Merv and Ashgabat
- Abandoned
- c.1400 CE (Timurid shift)
- Rediscovered
- 1904 noticed; 2001 French-Turkmen MAFTur systematic excavation
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
c.6000–3200 BCE
Jeitun–Anau basal layers with painted ware at mound base
c.3200–1800 BCE
Namazga Chalcolithic–Bronze town with BMAC seals
500 BCE–300 CE
Achaemenid then Parthian citadel walls 10 m thick, rhytons
On the ground
Structures & features
37.1500° N · 60.0200° E · 260 m · 2 mapped features
Bronze Age Tell Summit (Namazga–BMAC)
tellNamazga–BMAC layers with seals and gold burials on mound top
37.1503° N · 60.0205° EParthian Citadel Foot
fortification400×400 m Iron Age citadel walls 10 m thick with rhyton find-spot at mound base
37.1497° N · 60.0195° E
Gallery