2024/05/23 by Suleymanov, R., Muhammadiev, A., Оynazarov, Kh.
paper · doi:10.34920/2181-8592-2023.35en.003
The article presents the results of the reconnaissance work and preliminary studies carried out in 2022 in the Sherabad region. Preliminary short-term visits showed that the area was very promising for the study and discovery of Stone Age monuments. Here, on the territory of the foothills and mountainous areas in the gorges, many caves and grottoes had been formed, which in ancient times could serve as a refuge for people of the Stone Age. Exploration work was carried out from Kurukkulchasai in the southeast, through Panjab in the north, and through Tangidara and Bagli Dara, to Khamkan in the northwest. The researched territory is a single foothill and mid-mountain area. Several grottoes and caves were discovered in this area, such as Bagli-Dara 1, Tashli, Kerishimli, and Tal-Bulak. All the sites are within the radius of 10 km from each other. As a result of the reconnaissance work, several sites belonging to different periods of the Stone Age, as well as layers of the early Iron Age, were discovered. Only at one site, single items of the Paleolithic era were found. Among the archaeological finds, the main role is played by fragments and shards of ceramics, as well as animal bones.The results of the work showed that the area was intensively used by inhabitants not only in the Stone Age, but also in the Early Iron Age, and then up to the Middle Ages.