Sarazm et les débuts du peuplement agricole dans la région de Samarkand

Roland Besenval, Abdullah Isakovič Isakov

Discovered in 1976, Sarazm is the first evidence of chalcolithic settlement in the north-eastern part of southern Central Asia during 4th and 3rd millennium B.C. This site, isolated in this area, is similar to the agricultural communities well known during this period in South Turkmenia, on the Iranian Plateau and in Baluchistan. Archaeological excavations at Sarazm have shown striking links, through pottery/ with these distant regions. The question raised is the "raison d'être" of these closed connexions: the hypothesis of a specific interest in the Zerafshan mountaneous aera is considered.