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The Silk Road, Vol. 2, No. 2 (December 2004),
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From the Editor by:
Daniel
Waugh
1907 was a year of remarkable coincidence. In March, after
a winter of stunning discoveries in the desert, Aurel Stein arrived
at the Mogao Caves near Dun-huang. After learning there
of the "Library Cave," he returned to his excavations along
the Dunhuang "limes," in the process uncovering the famous
"Ancient Sogdian Letters." Back in Dunhuang, he would then
pack off to London a major part of the treasures from what we
now know as Cave 17. As readers of this newsletter know, the
study of the Silk Road would never be the same.
THE MAIKOP TREASURE
To properly begin the story of the so-called Maikop treasure, one must say
at least a little about M. A. Merle de Massoneau. The founder of the Bank
of the Orient in Paris, he had worked for a long time as the director of the
Russian royal vineyards in the Crimea and in the Caucasus. His position clearly
indicates not only his material wealth, but also his high social status, and
explains as well as the regular work-related trips he had to take between
the Crimea (where he lived in Yalta) and the Caucasus.
During the nearly twenty years he lived in Russia, de Massoneau had amassed
a truly enormous, unique collection.1 Several documents allow us to judge
its size. Robert Zahn, a famous German archaeologist, for example, informs
Berlin about de Massoneau’s collection: “The collection contains
various Greek and Roman antiquities, typical for the south of Russia. Furthermore,
it seems to me that the wares made during the time of the great migrations
(golden decorations, etc.) are very good, the Islamic ancient objects as well
as the medieval objects from Circassian tombs (a large collection of weapons)
are all very rich.” ²
In Celebration of Aleksandr
Leskov
Professor Aleksandr Leskov is known in Ukrainian and Russian
archaeology as “Sasha the Golden Hand.” Indeed, gold jewelry
and toreutic from his excavations in the Crimea and south Ukrainian steppes
constitute a significant part of the collection in the Ukrainian Museum
of National Treasures in Kiev, while his excavations on the northwestern
Caucasus (Adygeia) formed the core of the “Golden Chamber” in
the Moscow Museum of Oriental Art. Leskov is undoubtedly responsible for
more discoveries of ancient gold than any living Scythian archaeologist.
Given that the odds of finding true treasures in archaeological excavations
are about the same as for winning a major lottery jackpot, everybody unavoidably
asks: what is the secret of Leskov’s never-fading luck? The truth
is, there are no miracles which lead to buried treasure. At least three
serious factors have always significantly increased the probability of Leskov’s
success.
GREEKS, AMAZONS, AND
ARCHAEOLOGY
The legends of the Amazons and their battles with the Greeks were popular subjects
of ancient Greek art. Images of lone Amazons, of combat between an Amazon
and a Greek hero, of general battle scenes,2
and occasionally of more amicable meetings appear in vase painting, sculpture,
and other forms of art. The earliest representation known was made about 700
BCE [Schefold 1966, pp. 24-25, plate 7b]. The subjects appeared frequently
in the fifth century BCE, eventually rivaling the popularity of depictions
of centaurs [Encyclopedia Britannica (1957)].
Did Amazons really exist? Many modern writers deem them to be
mythical beings as are the satyrs and centaurs. Others believe them to be
symbols of the Persian or other peoples menacing
the Greek borders and
colonies. Still others believe that
they may have been members of
matriarchal societies of the
Bronze Age.
Archaeological GIS in Central
Asia
The following short articles describe the current state of several
projects developing archaeological applications of Geographic Information
Systems (GIS) in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Chinese Turkestan
(Xinjiang). Taken together, it is hoped that they point to some of the potential
applications of GIS in Central Asia.
Archaeological GIS and Oasis
Geography in the Tarim Basin
The "pivot of Asia," as Lattimore called Chinese Turkestan (more
prosaically the modern Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region), is an area where
a great deal of ancient history, and especially prehistory, remains uncharted.
At its center lies the Tarim Basin and the Taklamakan desert (Fig. 1), an
immense and harsh landscape of sand dunes, pebble deserts, and salt flats.
But along the foothills and at "terminal deltas" where rivers end in the
desert, for millennia oasis settlements have flourished which were culturally and geographically
tied at once to China,
South Asia, western Central Asia,
and the Eurasian steppe.
Ever since the signature of the Archaeological Convention between the French Republic and the Afghan kingdom in 1922, French archaeologists have expressed an interest in Bamiyan. In his first report on the archaeological remains of Afghanistan, Alfred Foucher, who had played a major role in drafting the convention, had underlined the importance of conducting archaeological studies in Bamiyan.
An Archaeological GIS of the
Surkhan Darya Province (Southern Uzbekistan)
This article presents some of the results of a long-term project
undertaken by the author within the framework of the MAFOuz de Bactriane.1
It will be focused on the use of GIS for data organisation2
and the potential that this offers for developing and testing new models
and theories.
Methods and Perspectives for
Ancient Settlement Studies in the Middle Zeravshan Valley
The "Archaeological Map of the Middle Zeravshan Valley"
Project, begun in 2001 [Shirinov and Tosi 2003], is a cooperation between
the Institute of Archaeology of Samarkand and the Department of Archaeology
of the University of Bologna. It was created and evolves with two main aims:
the study of the ancient population and settlement dynamics of the Middle
Zeravshan Valley (Fig.1), and the recovery, preservation and enhancing of
Samarkand and its territory. This brief description will be concerned with
the first.
Reasoning with GIS : Tracing
the Silk Road and the Defensive
Systems of the Murghab Delta
(Turkmenistan)
Over the past fifteen years, a
major joint Italian-Russian-
Turkmen project has enabled the
creation of an archaeological GIS
of the Murghab delta. This project
has involved some fifty different
specialists, resulting in numerous
studies and a preliminary project
publication [Gubaev et al. 1998].
The GIS is still under construction.
However, it already
includes over 1000 sites with
associated archaeological data
and a great deal of cartographic
and other geographical information.
The project evolved at a
time when GIS was only just
starting to be applied to
archaeology, and all information
was classified in codified
categories developed ad hoc for
this purpose.
Evolving the Archaeological
Mapping of Afghanistan
The application of GIS to the
archaeological mapping of
Afghanistan offers an excellent
means of evolving a new platform
for synthesizing and interpreting
data, for assessing and
monitoring the preservation of
sites, and for the eventual
collection of new data. In
conjunction with other Central
Asian GIS projects, it can also
form a tool with which to study
historical human geography
within and across the region, and
themes such as the evolution of
settlement patterns and cultural
interactions across the Iranian
plateau and Central Asia. The
GIS described in this section is a
first step in this direction,
containing over 2000 sites and
associated data sets, derived
from the Archaeological Gazetteer
of Afghanistan [Ball 1982], the
French surveys in eastern Bactria
[Gardin 1998; Lyonnet 1997;
Gentelle 1989] and other
sources.
Storing and Sharing Central
Asian GIS: The Alexandria
Archive
While GIS and related
technologies are revolutionizing
archaeology and related
disciplines, they present their
own challenges. Vast amounts of
data are generated in digitizing
regional data-sets, and in
contemporary techniques of data
collection in "digital" archaeology.
Projects that use GIS, such
as those described in this section,
are a case in point. A single
archaeological excavation or
survey can produce literally
thousands of digital photos,
maps, plans, drawings, analyses,
databases and reports.
Archaeologists produce all this
information because such
detailed recording and observation
is fundamental to
understanding the past.
The Search for the Origins of the Jew's Harp
As a player of the musical
instrument known as the Jew's
or jaws harp, the two most
frequent questions asked by my
audience are, "How did it get its
name?" and "Where does it
come from?" One of the
challenging and, at times, frustrating
aspects of researching
popular instruments is the lack of
reference material we have to
work with. Early writers simply
did not think the instrument
worthy of comment, or if they did
it was often in derisory terms,
not meriting serious study and,
like many throw-away items,
once the novelty had worn off or
the instrument had been broken,
it was discarded. Nevertheless, we
have enough information to help
us understand an instrument
manufactured and played
worldwide...
Excavation and Survey in
Arkhangai and Bulgan Aimaqs,
Mongolia July 20-August 17, 2005
For the summer of 2005, the Silkroad Foundation, in conjunction
with the Department of Archaeology at the Mongolian National University,
will be sponsoring excavation and survey in Arkhangai and Bulgan aimaqs,
Mongolia. You are invited to join in the first season of this collaborative
project.
The field directors for this
project are Dr. Mark Hall (Archaeological
Research Facility,
University of California, Berkeley)
and Dr. Zagd Batsaihan (Department
of Archaeology, Mongolian
National University). Dr. Hall has
excavated in Bulgan aimaq in
1996 and 1998, while Dr.
Batsaihan has worked in these
aimaqs since the early 1990s.
The main focus of the research
will be looking at Xiongnu
cemeteries and possible Xiongnu
settlements in these two
aimaqs.
Announcements
a look at up coming events and conferences...
