Gonur Depe
Gonur Tepe
- Date
- 1972 · confidence high
- Place
- near Mary, Turkmenistan
- Credited to
- Viktor Sarianidi
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Russian-Greek archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi began excavating Gonur Depe in 1972, near Mary (Turkmenistan), a Bronze Age settlement that proved to be the main center of the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC), dated to between 2400 and 1600 BCE.
What it led to
- Definition of the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex
- Rewriting of Central Asian Bronze Age history
- Systematic excavation of Margiana sites