| Sarazm | |
|---|---|
| — Town and Jamoat — | |
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Sarazm
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Tajikistan |
| Province | Sughd |
| District | Panjakent District |
| Time zone | TJT (UTC+5) |
| Proto-urban site of Sarazm * | |
|---|---|
| Country | Tajikistan |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | ii, iii |
| Reference | 1141rev |
| Region ** | Asia and the Pacific |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 2010 (34th Session) |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List ** Region as classified by UNESCO |
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Sarazm is an ancient town and jamoat in north-western Tajikistan. It is located in Panjakent District in Sughd province.[1]
The archaeological site of the ancient city of Sarazm is located near Durman, a town situated in the Zarafshan Valley of north-west Tajikistan in the Sughd province near the border with Uzbekistan.
The site indicates an early steppe presence in the Zarafshan Valley. About 5000 years ago it was "the largest metallurgical center of Central Asia engaged in export". It was abandoned after the arrival of the Indo-Iranians, around 2000 BC.
The city is believed to have been revived as a mining point to collect from nearby sources of turquoise.[2] Established no later that 1500 BC, the city also served as an important regional agricultural and copper production center.[3]
The town was discovered by a local farmer named Ashurali Tailonov in 1976 who found a copper dagger protruding from a nearby construction site.[4] It was excavated by Abdullo Isakov and French archaeologists beginning in 1977.
The proto-urban site of Sarazm was inscribed on the World Heritage List in July 2010 as "an archaeological site bearing testimony to the development of human settlements in Central Asia, from the 4th millennium BCE to the end of the 3rd millennium BCE".[5] It is the first World Heritage Site in Tajikistan.
Neolithic Settlement Sarazm - UNESCO World Heritage Centre Retrieved 2009-03-04.
Anthony, D.W. (2008), The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World, Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691058873
Central Asian river | PRI's The World Retrieved 2009-03-04.
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