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1
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Kurgans of the Eastern Kugitang Piedmonts. Preliminary Report on Excavations in Seasons 2015–2017

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Havlík J., Stančo L., Kysela J., Cejnarová P., Havlíková H., Votroubeková T.
Studia Hercynia
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2018
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vol. 22
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issue 1
183-206
EN
In its three field seasons between 2015 and 2017 the Czech‑Uzbekistani archaeological mission has focused on the area of the eastern Kugitang piedmonts, especially the Paskhurt Valley (southern Uzbekistan) in order to examine its historical cultural development. As one of the simultaneous activities, excavations of various selected kurgans and kurgan‑like features, which were newly detected in the area have been undertaken. Special attention was paid to the connection between kurgans and settlement sites nearby, particularly those of the Yaz I period (Early Iron Age Period, late 2nd millennium BC). Three kurgans of the Yaz I period have been uncovered, however their purpose was not identified with a sepulchral use, but rather with a ritual one. Besides the excavation of – in local terms – larger kurgans at the site of Kayrit 1, lesser simple stone structures were also excavated.
2
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Kurgans of the Eastern Kugitang Piedmonts. Preliminary Report for Season 2018

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Havlík J., Havlíková H., Stančo L.
Studia Hercynia
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2018
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vol. 22
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issue 2
147-172
EN
Kurgans are characteristic monuments of the Central Asian cultural landscape. The eastern piedmonts of the Kugitang mountain range (Southern Uzbekistan) emerged to be a noteworthily rich area in the occurrence of these various structures made of stones or soil and become one of the main research areas of the Czech -Uzbekistani Archaeological Expedition. Following the previous research of the season 2017, in 2018 the main attention was paid to the mapping of kurgans in the vicinity of the villages of Loylagan and Gurjak. Almost one hundred varied stone structures have been detected in this area, the majority of them labelled as a kurgan. This report presents the preliminary results of the field survey, a description of the morphology and a basic spatial analysis of the kurgans and their distribution within both the physical and historical landscape.
3
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Iskandar Tepa. Preliminary report for archaeological excavation in season 2018 (south Uzbekistan)

88%
Stančo L., Khamidov O., Shaydullaev S., Mrvová P., Votroubeková T., Bek T., Kmošek M.
Studia Hercynia
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2020
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vol. 24
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issue 1
145-158
EN
Following up on the previous extensive surface surveys in the valleys and steppe of the Kugitang Mountains Piedmont in 2016 and 2017, the Czech Uzbek archaeological expedition conducted small scale trial exca vations at the site of Iskandar Tepa, which had been identified as a small rural Greco Bactrian settlement. The main aim of the project was to confirm the dating and to reveal its possible function in the fortification system of the period in the Bactro Sogdian borderlands. This report offers basic information on the field work and its results in the 2018 season.
4
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Preliminary Report for the Archaeological Survey in the Baysun District (South Uzbekistan), Season 2017

88%
Stančo L., Augustinová A., Havlík J., Shaydullaev S., Smělý T., Shaydullaev A., Khamidov O., Novák V.
Studia Hercynia
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2018
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vol. 22
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issue 1
134-157
EN
This report represents an overview of the archaeological data that were acquired by the extensive archae‑ ological surface survey conducted by the Czech‑Uzbek team in the Baysun Mountains, south Uzbekistan, especially on the ridges of Sarymas, Susiztag and Alamli, as well as in the adjacent valleys, in spring 2017. The work focused predominantly on the detecting of ancient roads, fortifications and places of refuge.
5
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Preliminary Report on Excavations at Burgut Kurgan in 2016

88%
Kysela J., Stančo L., Palmeri G.
Studia Hercynia
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2017
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vol. 21
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issue 1
89-103
EN
The paper summarises the results of the second season of exploration of the Yaz I walled settlement of Burgut Kurgan, south Uzbekistan. The 2016 excavations concentrated on the further investigation of the stone wall and on bringing to light one entire settlement unit.
6
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In the footsteps of Euthydemus. Preliminary report for archaeological survey in the Baysun District (South Uzbekistan), Season 2018

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Stančo L., Shaydullaev S., Khamidov O., Augustinová A., Damašek L., Bek T., Kmošek M.
Studia Hercynia
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2019
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vol. 23
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issue 1
141-172
EN
The extensive archaeological surface survey conducted by the Czech -Uzbek team in the Baysun Mountains (south Uzbekistan) that started in spring 2017 continued a year later, in April and May 2018. Its aim was to detect archaeological sites of the Hellenistic period, as well as to verify the dating and interpretation of already known settlements in the given district and thus to extend and refine the archaeological map of Southern Uzbekistan. This report brings basic overview of the thus gained archaeological data.
7
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The Iron Gate and its environs in the Hellenistic period. Preliminary report for archaeological research in the Baysun District (South Uzbekistan), Season 2019

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Stančo L., Kysela J., Shaydullaev S., Tomáš B., Kmošek M., Toshaliyev K., Mrvová P., Votroubeková T. V., Matznerová J.
Studia Hercynia
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2022
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vol. 26
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issue 2
91-114
EN
is report summarizes the starting points, methods and results of the archaeological research of the Czech-Uzbek team investigating the Hellenistic selements in the vicinity of Darband, in the upper reaches of the Sherabad Darya, in the Baysun District of southern Uzbekistan in season 2019. A significant amount of archaeological material has been obtained using a systematic surface metal detector survey and targeted excavations of a limited scope. We were able to confirm that some of these sites, such as Daganajam Tepa and perhaps also Mirzali, were inhabited only in the Hellenistic period, while in the case of the others, a selement in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC was only one of their occupation phases (Kapchigay Tepa, Darband wall).
8
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Ancient Adornments of Central Asia Influenced by the Greek Jewellery of the Classical and Hellenistic Period

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Belaňová P.
Studia Hercynia
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2016
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vol. 20
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issue 1
111-126
EN
Central Asia absorbed the stimuli of shifting cultural influences and for many centuries created an original artistic expression, which can be observed in all branches of arts and crafts. One of these branches is jewellery production. Many pieces of jewellery were largely inspired by the culture of the ancient Mediterranean. The attention of the article is focused on the Central Asia jewellery finds, the production of jewellery and examples of the influence of ancient Greek jewellery of the Classical and Hellenistic period on the jewellery production in Central Asia from the points of view of technology (production and decoration processes), typology (types of jewellery) and iconography (frequently occurring themes as inspirations from the ancient mythology).
9
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Pottery from Burgut Kurgan and Kayrit Oasis, Preliminary Report for Season 2015

75%
Lhuillier J.
Studia Hercynia
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2016
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vol. 20
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issue 2
112-121
EN
This report – making part of a series of mutually related texts – evaluates a newly uncovered assemblage of Yaz I pottery from the Czech‑Uzbekistani‑French excavations at the site of Burgut Kurgan, south Uzbekistan. This body of material shows remarkable characteristics, linking it with related Handmade Painted Ware cultures both to the north and to the southwest of Burgut Kurgan.
10
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Hoards from Hellenistic to Kushan Central Asia: Towards Some Interpretations

75%
Morris L.
Studia Hercynia
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2023
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vol. 27
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issue 1
151-177
EN
This article is concerned with the interpretation of diverse examples of hoards (intentional deposits of valuable objects) from Central Asia’s Hellenistic and Kushan periods that are traditionally understood in utilitarian terms. As a means of comparison, it first reviews useful insights from the study of hoards in Bronze Age Europe and coin hoards, where simplistic classifications and interpretations of hoards (especially as representative of strictly ritual or utilitarian behaviour) have been increasingly problematised. The case of the Begram hoard is then discussed in reference to these insights. Arguably, this find represents not the remains of a palatial treasure or merchant’s cache, but perhaps rather material selected from the property of a religious institution that was deposited and abandoned as late as the early 4th century AD, and reflecting both ritual and utilitarian considerations. The interpretations of additional cases of diverse hoards from Ai Khanoum, Taxila, the Oxus Temple, Daľverzintepe, and Mir Zakah are then reconsidered, highlighting common shortcomings in the interpretation of coin hoards in the field, the diverse ways these finds shed light on economic, social, and ritual behaviour, and the necessity for critical interrogation of frequently presumed direct links between unrecovered hoards and expected invasions.
11
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Alexander the Undertaker: Persians, Bactrians, and ataphoi

75%
Mendoza M.
Studia Hercynia
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2023
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vol. 27
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issue 1
65-87
EN
Alexander’s famous ban of the exposure of the corpses in Bactra has been long studied. Mostly the discussion has focused on the veracity of the account and his compliance with the Zoroastrian rites. The analysis of the reasons that led Alexander to the ban has hitherto been very superficial, only outlining the apparently exceptional character of that action. This paper tries to put this prohibition into a broader context. For this purpose, a look at the previous actions of Alexander in relation to the foreigners’ corpses must first be taken. Also, the extremely negative conception of the unburied in the Hellenic culture, religion, and politics needs to be properly assessed. Only after this analysis, the signification of the prohibition can be rightly apprehended and integrated into the wider context of Alexander’s conquest, and not regarding it as a mere king’s whim. This Bactrian episode stands for a good example of how the Macedonian campaign put face to face conflicting religious practices.
12
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A Fight to Reclaim the Central Asian Frontier. The Seleucid and Parthian Rivalry in the 230s BC

75%
Overtoom N. L.
Studia Hercynia
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2021
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vol. 25
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issue 1
105-118
EN
This article investigates the initial conflict between the Parthians and Seleucids in the late 230s BC that established a much longer period of rivalry between these opposing forces. Arsaces I founded the independent Parthian kingdom in northeastern Iran during a period of geopolitical crisis throughout the Hellenistic Middle East. Although he successfully removed and replaced the rebellious Seleucid satrap in the region and quickly integrated his followers into the local aristocracy, the Parthian state remained vulnerable. The Parthians could expect some form of imminent Seleucid retaliation if the war between Seleucus II and his brother Antiochus Hierax subsided. This article reconsiders the eastern campaign of Seleucus against the Parthians to appreciate better the agency and accomplishments of the Parthians. It challenges the tradition that the Parthians were weak and acted cowardly. Instead, it concludes that the Parthians proved resourceful, clever, and triumphant.
13
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Flipping the Coin: Alexander the Great’s Bactrian-Sogdian Expedition from a Local Perspective

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Iliakis M.
Studia Hercynia
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2021
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vol. 25
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issue 1
34-47
EN
The present paper examines written sources pertinent to Alexander the Great’s expedition in Bactria and Sogdiana. It focuses on the impact of the military campaigns on the local inhabitants in four interconnected fields of human activity (military, political, urban, and administrative) and addresses their responses to the invading army. It argues that Alexander’s military activities took place not in Bactria-Sogdiana as a whole, but rather in specific Sogdian territories, inflicting heavy casualties in the process. It proposes that Alexander’s decision to appoint Artabazus as satrap disrupted the political status quo, forcing a Sogdian faction to rebel and that his alliance with another local faction was crucial for pacifying the region. Comparing the available textual and archaeological evidence regarding the settlements of Bactria-Sogdiana in the 320s BC it assess that Alexander’s city building activity was limited. Lastly, the majority of the local population seems to have accepted the regime change.
14
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Herodotus on Bactria between Achaemenid Mobility and Alexander’s campaign. Some reflections

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Ferrario M.
Studia Hercynia
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2021
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vol. 25
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issue 1
9-33
EN
Thanks to a recent monographic study by Chiara Matarese we are now able to understand more clearly both the reasons and the goals of a phenomenon, that of the so-called ‘deportations’ characteristic of the Achaemenid empire. In addition, considerable attention has been devoted in recent years to the ways in which classical authors perceived events such as the dissolution of a community against the backdrop of, for example, military defeats. All this makes possible an analysis of a Herodotus’ passage (IV, 204) which has so far received less consideration than it deserves. On the basis of these premises, two purposes will be pursued in the following pages. First, I aim to show that a study of the fate – as recounted by Herodotus – of a small community of Greeks settled in Libya against the backdrop of the mobility characteristic of the Achaemenid world substantiates the hypothesis that Central Asia (and Bactria in particular) was far less alien to the mental horizon – and in some cases to individual and group experience – than the representation of this region of the empire as a remote periphery at the edge of the world has long suggested. Secondly, a direct consequence of this hypothesis is that, if indeed the presence of a Greek diaspora in Central Asia was less sporadic than usually admitted, the process of (ethno)genesis of the first community of Graeco-Bactrians needs to be reconsidered in the light of a socio-cultural complexity that historiography tends to consider a feature of Hellenistic Bactrian history, whereas the passage from Herodotus’ Histories discussed in these pages suggests that there is an entire prehistory of this phenomenon yet to be explored.
15
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Kurgans of the Eastern Kugitang Piedmonts: Preliminary Report for Season 2017

75%
Havlík J., Stančo L., Havlíková H.
Studia Hercynia
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2017
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vol. 21
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issue 2
160-182
EN
The valleys of the Kugitang piedmont (Sherabad District, Surkhandarya Province, Uzbekistan) have been investigated by the Czech‑Uzbekistani expedition since 2011. Over the last three years, hundreds of stone features have been detected and preliminarily interpreted as kurgans (i.e. burial mounds); the purpose of these features, however, still remains unclear. Consequently, the kurgans started to be systematically investigated in 2017. This report presents preliminary results of the field survey, a morphological description and a basic spatial analysis of the kurgans within clusters, and the clusters themselves within the surrounding landscape.
16
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The Petroglyphs of Pashkhurt Valley in the Surkhan Darya Province (South Uzbekistan) – Preliminary Report

75%
Augustinová A., Stančo L.
Studia Hercynia
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2016
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vol. 20
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issue 2
122-138
EN
This report focuses on a group of petroglyphs that were recently discovered and documented near the village of Zarabag in the Sherabad District (south Uzbekistan). Although the prehistoric and early medieval petroglyphs rank among the most well‑known and studied phenomena in the archaeology of Central Asia, they have been virtually unknown in south Uzbekistan. The group consists of 42 individual stones with rock art that have been recently found, carefully documented and preliminarily analysed. This paper offers a brief description of the site, and of the individual petroglyphs, their basic typology and preliminary dating as well as a spatial analysis.
17
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In the shadow of the Wall. Hellenistic settlement in the Baysun and Kugitang piedmonts

75%
Stančo L.
Studia Hercynia
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2021
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vol. 25
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issue 2
64-95
EN
This article brings an up -to -date evaluation of the archaeological research in the core of the Bactro -Sogdian borderlands, i.e., in the vicinity of the Darband Wall, Baysun District, southern Uzbekistan, including the most recent results of the fieldwork of the Czech -Uzbek archaeological expedition. These are combined with the fruits of the efforts of other local and international teams busy in this region for the last twenty years in a spatiotemporal assessment. Building upon the lack of evidence, the author argues against the identification of the selected locations in the region as places where the events connected with the invasion of Alexander the Great took place. We also show that the area of the Baysun District including Darband was for the first time in history settled in the Seleucid / Greco -Bactrian period. The original function of the Darband Wall itself was most probably related to an event preceding the campaign of Antiochos III to Bactria and the presumed threat of nomads.
18
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Preliminary Report on the Excavations at Burgut Kurgan in 2015

75%
Stančo L., Kysela J., Havlík J., Tlustá J., Shaydullaev S., Bendezu‑Sarmiento J., Lhuillier J., Shaydullaev A.
Studia Hercynia
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2016
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vol. 20
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issue 2
86-111
EN
This text summarizes the preliminary results of the first season of archaeological excavations at the site of Burgut Kurgan in Pashkhurt Valley, south Uzbekistan, which were conducted by the Czech‑Uzbekistani‑French team in 2015. The site represents a unique walled settlement of the transitional period between the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age of southern Central Asia.
19
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Terra multiplex et varia natura. On the settlement patterns of Bactria in the Hellenistic Period

75%
Havlík J.
Studia Hercynia
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2021
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vol. 25
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issue 2
9-41
EN
The proposed study aims to investigate the character of settlement transformation in ancient Bactria (upper Amu Darya basin) during the period following the conquest of Alexander the Great. This transformation is addressed by the comparison of settlement development in the two regions of Bactria, its north -western part in present -day Uzbekistan and the so -called Eastern Bactria in present -day Afghanistan, based on archaeological evidence. Attention is devoted mainly to the quantitative analysis of settlement sites attributed by previous researchers to the Achaemenid and Hellenistic periods on the one hand, and the evaluation of settlement hierarchy and spatial distribution changes on the other. The conducted analysis illustrates a massive settlement abandonment posterior to the fall of the Persian Empire. However, the results of the study suggest that the Hellenistic eastern Bactria, commonly associated with a high level of involvement of the new elites coming from outside, also exhibited many traits of structural continuity with the preceding period represented by a general settlement dispersal and reutilization of both, previous fortified centres and irrigation networks. On the other hand, interest in fortification and the settling of new areas at higher altitudes are clearly characteristic of the Hellenistic Bactria as a whole.
20
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The votive plaques in the Oxus and Mir Zakah treasures: what they tell about the cults

63%
Grenet F.
Studia Hercynia
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2023
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vol. 27
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issue 1
54-64
EN
This paper proposes a comparison between the votive plaques which were part of the Oxus and Mir Zakah treasures, both dating for the main to the Achaemenid period. In a first section the questions of provenance and authenticity are discussed. Arguments adduced against the authenticity of some plaques are dismissed in the light of comparative material, some of which was recently discovered in safe contexts. A second section addresses the religious significance of these offerings. The Oxus treasure collection is consistent with known chracteristics of the god Wakhsh (Oxus), e.g. its association with the horse and its possible assimilation to Tishtrya. The Mir Zakah collection is more associated with farming and it also comprises a significant proportion of medical ex -votos (or propitiatory offerings), completely absent from the Oxus treasure. Such a repertoire could suggest that this part of the Mir Zakah treasure originally belonged to a temple of Anāhitā.
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