Perspectives on an Alluvial Margin: Settlement Patterns in the Northern Murghab Delta, Turkmenistan

Abstract

This paper presents the results of the Northern Murghab Delta Survey, an intensive survey designed to investigate Bronze Age settlement distributions in a transitional zone between delta and desert in south-eastern Turkmenistan. The visually obstructed landscape complicates effective identification of past settlement patterns, a problem that can be significantly lessened (if not eliminated) via the integration of remote sensing data with intensive field walking survey. The survey data is thus presented within the context of past and present landscapes, leading to a re-interpretation of Bronze Age occupation as a combination of varied processes, strongly influenced by but not fully constrained to major watercourses.

Keywords:

• Central Asia
• survey
• Bronze Age
• Murghab
• remote sensing
• BMAC