Sarazm, a proto-urban centre of Central Asia
Sarazm, centro protourbano de Asia central
- Date
- c. 3500 BCE · confidence medium
- Place
- Sarazm, Penjikent, Sughd, Tajikistan
- Credited to
- Sarazm culture (discovered in 1976 by A. Isakov)
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
An agricultural and metallurgical settlement in the Zeravshan valley with irrigation, copper smelting and contacts with the steppe, Turkmenistan and Iran, showing early social and commercial complexity. It is the earliest known town in Central Asia and a World Heritage Site since 2010.
Occupied from c. 3500 BC to c. 2000 BC, with a peak around 3000 BC.
What it led to
- a crossroads between steppe herders and southern oasis farmers
- evidence of copper metallurgy and exchange of lapis lazuli, turquoise and carnelian
- forerunner of the Sogdian cities in the same valley