🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Kizil Caves (Bezeklik precursor)
Six Dynasties to Tang ~300–800 CE · Tocharian Kuchean Buddhist with Gandharan influence
Kucha's 236 lapis-blue Jataka caves - China's earliest Buddhist grottoes on the Silk Road.
🇮🇷 Iran · Ancient city
Shahr-i Sokhta — The Burnt City
Early Bronze Age Helmand–Jiroft horizon (c.3200–1800 BCE; variant 3200–2350 then eclipse) · Helmand/Sistan Bronze Age (Burnt City culture) — network with Shahr-i Sokhta, Mundigak, Indus
151 ha Burnt City between Sumer and Indus — animated goat bowl, artificial eye and 40,000 graves.
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Kizil Caves — Western Valley Extension (Western Kizil)
Early Medieval Central Asian (Tocharian B) · Tocharian Buddhist (Kucha Kingdom) with Gandhara influence
Kucha Tocharian western 42-cave valley 400–700 CE diamond ceilings and lapis blue, German-removal archive.