Djandavlattepa: Preliminary report of the 2002 excavation season

Djandavlattepa: Preliminary report of the 2002 excavation season

Kazim Abdullaev and Ladislav Stančo

Published in: Studia Hercynia IX

should be quoted as follows:

Abdullaev, Kazim - Stančo, Ladislav 2003: "Djandavlattepa: Preliminary report of the 2002 excavation season", in: Studia Hercynia VII, 165-168.

The project of the archaeological research of Djandavlattepa started as a joint venture of the Institute for Classical Archaeology of Charles University in Prague and the Archaeological Institute of Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan in Samarkand.[1]
The site of Djandavlattepa was chosen for our research work as it was supposedly the main urban settlement of the Sherabaddarya valley and also on the trade route connecting Sogdiana to the North and the city of Termez and Bactra to the South. The site is situated about ten kilometres south-east of the town of Sherabad in the Sherabad district of the Surkhandarya province, South Uzbekistan. Soviet archaeologists have conducted a general observation of the tepa in the early seventies.[2]
Having in mind the results of the German-Uzbek archaeological expedition to the site in 1993[3], we have chosen places for four trenches in the central-western and southern part of the tepa. The trenches No. 6, 7 and 8 were placed between the elevation in the western part and the southern ridge. Their position of the trenches makes possible to enlarge and join them in future research. The work lasted from 6th to 26th October 2002. The earliest cultural layers of the tepa date from the Bronze and Early Iron Ages and they include those of Achaimenids, Greeks, Śakas and Kushans. The last period of habitation on the tepa was the Kushan-Sassanid period.

In this first season five archaeologists, two from Czech Republic (Ladislav Boháč and Ladislav Stančo) and three from Republic of Uzbekistan participated (Kazim Abdullaev, Shapolat Shaydullaev and K. Rakhimov). The group of twelve to fifteen local workers from the village
of Saitabad supported us in the fieldwork.

Sondage 4[4]

The excavations of the Sondage 4 started on 7 October 2002 and lasted until 23 October 2002. Final documentation was completed on 24 and 25 October 2002. The Sondage 4 is situated on the southern slope of the tepa. The level of the terrain under the tepa is recognizably higher in this area. It could indicate presence of an approach ramp to the city gate. This supposition was confirmed by the extensive cleaning of the surface. We found both the inner and outer outlines of the city walls and the left wing of a defensive wall of the gate. Our intention in the next season is to unearth the central part of the gate and to establish the chronology of the city walls. In the upper part of the trench we found also two recent graves with no offerings. Similarly as in other Sondages, they represent the Muslim burial practice of the last few centuries. The grave pits were cut into the mud-bricks of the city wall. Only several pottery fragments were found in Sondage 4, most of them belong to the Kushan period.

Sondage 6

The excavations of the Sondage 6 started on 7 October 2002 and lasted until 23 October 2002. Final documentation was completed on 24 and 25 October 2002. The similar reason as in Sondage 4 led us to the decision to open this trench on the southwestern ridge of the tepa. We were interested in the structure of the city-walls as well as in the contiguous inner built-up area. The terrain is remarkably elevated in this area. K. Abdullaev opened gradually two trenches (4 x 4 m) in North-South axis, in order to specify the extent of the city walls and to check the possible presence of the bastions. After removing a greyish-brown dusty layer that covers the surface, two mudbrick walls, running to the east-profile and to the north-west, were revealed 80 cm beneath the surface. The eastern wall was 70 cm wide and its preserved height from the floor was 40 cm. From the pottery fragments uncovered here it became clear that the architecture of the last cultural layer represents remains of small houses of the Kushano-Sassanian period. The walls consist of the rather small square mudbricks, 30 x 30 cm or 32 x 32 cm The mud-bricks of this walls were 7-10 cm thick. Two recent grave pits without offerings were cut in the remains of the walls also here. In the debris many pottery fragments and whole shapes were found, among them drinking cups and jugs with two side handles as well as bigger bowls and storage jars. The quality of some cups and jars is remarkably high. The fine clay was used and worked with careful craftsmanship. Some potsherds are fine-walled with a thin red slip and they are mostly well fired. Several fragments were horizontally or vertically polished. Besides pottery, a few beads of glass paste were found here, too.

Sondage 7

The excavations of Sondage 7 started on 7 October 2002 and lasted until 23 October 2002. Final documentation was completed on 24 and 25 October 2002. Sondage 7 was situated in the western part of the tepa, near to its highest point (also the main measure point, the northern ridge of Sondage 7 is about 7-8 meters from it) of the site except for the so-called citadel. Our intention in this area was to find out, what monumental
architectural complex creates once this highly pronounced part of the tepa. The sondage consisted of two Squares 7A and 7B with extent 4 m x 4 m and 4 m x 3.5 m respectively. The control block 0.50 m wide separated the two squares.

At first we started with Square 7A. The subsurface greyish-brown dusty layer of about 0.20 m was removed. Regular pisé platform was uncovered in the northern part of the square. It was most likely a substructure for some small building
of the last phase (Kushano-Sasanian). Several grave pits appeared in the other parts of the square. Three of them were simple children graves of quite recent date. There were just skeletons with no pottery or other offerings as is typical for the Islamic burial rite in this area. The lower parts of the graves were cut into the upper mudbricks layer of the wall (wall no.1) running from the centre of the southern profile to the northeastern corner. The wall consists of two rows of square mudbricks, 35 x 35 cm. While searching after its context we found out that westward from the wall 1 there are at least 7 regular rows of mudbricks. Strange enough, they are placed vertically. Next two rows of the same kind appeared a little bit deeper, just next to the western profile of the sondage. The very good state of preservation and the different dimensions of the bricks (32 x 32 cm) exclude our first
opinion, that it could be a massive destruction. Afterwards we opened the square 7B to the north in order to explain this situation. We hoped to find the next part of the structure but unfortunately we found none.

In this square, after removing the same subsurface layer, two more Islamic grave pits were revealed. In this case they contained the adult burials. As visible from the plans, all graves are almost identically oriented - from southeast to northwest, where Mecca was supposed to be erroneously. Both grave pits were cut into the heavy destruction layer running down the hill (N → S). Thus, this layer arose by accidental destruction, not by planning for the next building phase. The mudbricks specimens from the layer included those of dimensions 32 x 32 cm, as well as larger ones 40 x 40 cm (these are usually earlier in date). Some small finds like a hairpin, an earring and a coin of Demetrios (?) were revealed in the Sondage 7B (see the list of small finds below). The coin was no doubt removed form an earlier context to this layer and is of no use for its dating. Some of the mudbricks are marked with simple signs like I, II, S, V or C.

We can conclude that in Sondage 7 we have not found traces of dwelling structures as yet. The wall 1, the strange platform or stairs in Sondage 7A as well as the heavy destruction in Sondage 7B show more likely presence of a monumental architecture. The question of dating remains still opened. According to the mudbricks´ dimensions and parallels to other Sondages, we are here roughly in the Kushan period. A more precise dating can be established after the pottery analysis will be finished. Beside the chronologically less sensitive common ware we found many fragments of the Kushan red-slip ware. Several fragments bear a number of stamps, especially with floral pattern.

Sondage 8

The excavations of Sondage 8 started on 7 October 2002 and lasted until 19 October 2002. Final documentation was completed on 20 and 21 October 2002.

Sondage 8 was situated approximately in the centre of western part of the tepa, about 30 meters to the east from Sondage 6, in order to provide first information for understanding the inner layout of the settlement hidden under the tepa.

After removing a greyish-brown dusty layer (3)[5] that covers the surface of the tepa, two mudbrick walls (Wall ‘1’) of the Kushano-Sasanian period, running at a right angle to one another, were revealed enclosing a small space/room. A ‘reinforcement’ of uncertain purpose projected from the eastern mudbrick wall along the southern profile of the sondage. Evidently, mudbricks of two different dimensions were used, 32 x 32 cm, resp. 37-38 x 37-38 cm, the larger ones for the crossing of the northern and eastern walls and for the ‘reinforcement’.[6]
The mudbrick wall running parallel to the northern profile of the sondage had been interrupted in its middle part by a recent grave pit (Pit ‘1’) (12), approx. 1.60 m deep. Another pit
(Pit ‘2’) (2), possibly also intended for a burial, was found in the south-east corner of the sondage. Inner sides of the walls had been originally covered with a lime plaster (no traces of paint have been discovered yet). A pot of coarser fabric and with sharply articulated belly was found lying in situ on the lime floor of the room. Traces of burning preserved abundantly especially near the pot prove that the building had been destroyed by fire.

An earlier phase of the room (building?) dating roughly to the Kushan period (1st – 3rd c. AD) showed the same disposition, except for the later added ‘reinforcement’. The mudbrick walls preserved to 0.70 - 0.80 m of their original height, were also in this phase covered with lime plaster. The floor was paved with mudbricks of unusual dimensions (28 x 15 cm) that had been laid upright in regular courses (9). The room seems to have been abandoned and immediately filled with debris (8) (perhaps to give way for a modernisation?).

On the same place there existed an even earlier predecessor with slightly shifted ground plan. The floor was covered with lime plaster and shows traces of heavy fire. This earliest phase has to be dated, according to the pottery material, to the 1st c. BC – 1st c. AD. The coins of Huvishka and Soter Megas were unearthed in the different layers of this Sondage.

List of small finds

Sondage 7

1. Spindle-whorl (pottery), reshaped and reused pottery fragment, 7A/I.; 2nd layer; 8/10/2002.

2. Roman fibula, type Lunula, bronze; 7B/I., in the removed clay above the grave no. 5; 1.70 m west, 0.66 m north, 0.80 m
surface; 15/10/2002.

3. Hairpin, bone; 7B/II., in the filling of the pit, 1.75 m east, 0.40 m south, 0.60 m surface; 16/10/2002.

4. Æ coin (Demetrios ?); 7B/III; from the lower part of east profile; 21/10/2002.

Sondage 8

1. Spindle-whorl (of limestone) - 2nd layer - 07/10/2002 - south: 1.10 m, west: 2.15 m;

2. Æ fragment - 3rd layer - 08/10/2002 - ...

3. Æ coin - filling of a recent grave pit -
10/10/2002 - ...

4. Æ coin - 7th layer - 10/10/2002 - ...

5. Whetstone (of greyish-black stone) - 9th layer - 17/10/2002 - ...

6. Bead of cylindrical shape (made of greenish glass paste) - ...

[1] The project was kindly supported by the grant of the Grant Agency of the Charles Univeristy, Prague No. 292/2001/A-HN/FF.

[2] Pidaev, Sh. R., 1974: Материалы к изучению древних памятников Северной Бактрии. In: Древняя Бактрия. 32-42, Leningrad; Rtveladze, E. V., Chakimov, Z. A. 1973: Маршрутные исследования Северной Бактрии. In: Из истории антнчной культуры Узбекистана, 13-14, fig. 3, 3, Tashkent.

[3]
Huff, D.; Pidaev, Ch.; Chaydoullaev, Ch., Djandavlattepa. Archeologik otrjadinig 1993 jilda kilgan tadkikotlari: chusoboti. Samarkand, 1994 (interim report, not published); Huff, D.; Pidaev, Ch.; Chaydoullaev, Ch., Uzbek-German archaeological researches in the Surkhan Darya region. In: La Bactriane au carrefour des routes et des civilisations de l´Asie centrale. Actes du colloque de Termez 1997. Paris, 2001; Huff, D: An Unusual Type of Terracotta Figurine from North Bactria. In: Invernizzi, A. (ed.), In the Land of Gryphones. Torino, 1995: 269-273.

[4] In the marking of the Sondages we follow up with the earlier numbers given by the German-Uzbek team for their trenches.

[5] Bold numbers in round brackets indicate the respective number of layer.

[6] The edges of mudbricks of the eastern wall were rather worn and indistinct giving an impression of a pisé rather than a mudbrick wall.