38°07′N62°00′E / 38.12°N 62.00°E /38.12; 62.00

Togolok

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Location	Murghab Inner Delta,Turkmenistan
Type	Archaeological site
History
Founded	Late 3rd - First half of the2nd millennium BC
Periods	Middle - Late phases of theBactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC) - Greater Khorasan Civilization (GKC)
Cultures	Indo-Iranian
Site notes
Condition	Ruins

Togolok is an archaeological site in theMurghab Delta,Turkmenistan, located about 10–15 km south ofGonur (or about 40 km north ofMary, Turkmenistan).Togolok 21 is theorized to be anIndo-Iranian^[1] temple and fortress dated to the first half of the 2nd millennium BC, belonging to the late phase of theBactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC).Togolok 1 area has also been excavated. Since 2014, the Togolok 1 site has been excavated by the TAP - Togolok Archaeological Project, directed by Barbara Cerasetti (FU Berlin, ISMEO), in collaboration with the University of Bern.

According to theEncyclopedia of Indo-European Culture (page 495), the Togolok temple contained rooms where traces ofephedra andhemp were found along with implements for the preparation of a hallucinogenic beverage (which may be connected to the Hindu drinksoma and the Zoroastrian drinkhaoma).

The name 'Togolok' is also applied to another much older site in Turkmenistan known as 'Togolok-tepe'. This settlement started in theNeolithic during theJeitun period around 7000 BC.^[2] It is located in theKopet-Dagh foothills near the ancient Jeitun settlement. The site has been excavated and published in 1964 in Russian.

• V. Sarianidi,Le complexe cultuel de Togolok 21 en Margiane,Arts Asiatiques 41 (1986), 5–21.
• V. Sarianidi, "Togolok 21, an Indo-Iranian Temple in the Karakum",Bulletin of the Asia Institute 4 (1990), 159–165.
• V. Sarianidi,Margiana and Soma-Haoma,Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies (EJVS) 9.1c (5 May 2003).
• F.T. Hiebert,Origins of the Bronze Age Oasis Civilization in Central Asia, American School of Prehistoric Research Bulletins 42 (2004).
• M. Cattani et al.,The Murghab Delta in Central Asia 1990-2001: GIS from a Research Resource to a Reasoning Tool for the Study of Settlement Change in Long-Term Fluctuations in: M. Doerr (ed.),The Digital Heritage of Archaeology (2002).
• 2019 CERASETTI, B. et al. Bronze and Iron Age urbanization in Turkmenistan. Preliminary results from the excavation of Togolok 1 on the Murghab alluvial fan. In C. Baumer, M. Novák (eds) Urban Cultures of Central Asia from the Bronze Age to the Karakhanids. Learnings and conclusions from new archaeological investigations and discoveries. SVA 12, Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Verlag: 63-72.
• 2022 CERASETTI, B. et al. The Rise and Decline of the Desert Cities: The Last Stages of the BMAC at Togolok 1 (Southern Turkmenistan). In C. Baumer et al. (eds) Cultures in Contact. Central Asia as Focus of Trade, Cultural Exchange and Knowledge Transmission. SVA 19. Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Verlag: 89-115.
• 2022 Billings, T.N., CERASETTI, B. et al. Agriculture in the Karakum: An archaeobotanical analysis from Togolok 1, southern Turkmenistan (ca. 2300-1700 B.C.). Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, "Effects of Novel Environments on Domesticated Species". DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.995490

• Archaeological sites in Turkmenistan
• Former populated places in Turkmenistan
• Mary Region
• Murghab basin
• Indo-Iranian archaeological sites

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