Sapallitepa

History and finds

Sapallitepa lies in the Sherobod steppe, about 30 km south-west of Sherobod town. L. I. Albaum discovered it in 1968, and an expedition led by A. A. Askarov excavated it in 1969–1974; the name comes from the potsherds (sopol) that littered the mound. At its heart stood a square fort 82 m on each side, ringed by an elaborate defensive wall of corridors and rooms, with a single gate on the south. Inside, eight blocks of houses, pottery kilns and granaries surrounded a central square.

Excavators found 138 burials beneath the floors and around the rooms. Finds include wheel-made pottery, bronze tools and ornaments, seals and scraps of silk cloth, the oldest yet known in Central Asia. Archaeologists call the Bronze Age farming culture of northern Bactria the Sapalli culture after this site. Its dating varies: the Great Russian Encyclopedia gives roughly 2000/1900–1700 BC, while Uzbek publications cite the 17th–14th centuries BC.