Merv - Geoksyur settlement

Extensive ancient agricultural settlement in the old Tejen Delta, dating back to the 4th millennium BC. Geoksyur settlement is located not far from Geoksyur railway station (between Tejen and Merv). The area of the monument is 12 hectares and is more than 10 metres above the surrounding terrain.

The settlement consisted of multi-storey houses separated by narrow streets. All the houses were built of ordinary rectangular rough bricks. The material culture of Geoksyur is characterised by magnificently painted, thin-walled pottery decorated with complex and polychrome geometric ornaments.

In this respect, Geoksyur-style pottery differs significantly from contemporary pottery from other regions of ancient Turkmenistan. Another distinctive feature of Geoksyur is coroplastics (the production of miniature female statuettes from fired clay) with elaborate terracotta figures, always seated, often with elaborate high hairstyles. The monotypical faces always have large, protruding noses, possibly reflecting the anthropological type of the population.

In addition to these numerous figures, there are also isolated male figures, often with combat helmets on their heads. While the female figures symbolise the mother goddess, the male figures most likely represent military chiefs or leaders.

A third feature of Geoksyur are the hitherto unknown burial structures in the form of domed hollow tombs with group burials (tolos). These probably served as a kind of family vault.

People probably came to Geoksyur in the course of tribal settlement from southwestern Iran and possibly from Mesopotamia. There were several other settlements in the vicinity of Geoksyur in the ancient Tejendelta.

Nine of them have been investigated by archaeologists, and some of them have been given their vernacular names. These are Dashlidji-depe, Akcha-depe, Aina-depe, Yalangach-depe, Mullali-depe and Chong-depe. Together they formed the once fertile oasis of Geoksyur, whose inhabitants were among the pioneers in the construction of irrigation canals.

The traces of a Neolithic irrigation network found here are among the oldest in the world. About 50 hectares were irrigated with the help of artificially constructed canals from the riverbed of the Tedjen, which guaranteed the Geoksyur a relatively stable barley harvest.

The oasis settlements have evolved over the centuries from fortified villages with one-room huts to “pro-urban” settlements consisting of more complex blocks with multi-room houses.