38°07′N 62°00′E / 38.12°N 62.00°E / 38.12; 62.00

Togolok
Map
Map
Map
LocationMurghab Delta, Turkmenistan
TypeArchaeological site
History
FoundedFirst half of the 2nd millennium BC
PeriodsLate phase of the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC)
CulturesIndo-Iranian
Site notes
ConditionRuins

Togolok is an archaeological site in the Murghab Delta, Turkmenistan, located about 10–15 km south of Gonur (or about 40 km north of Mary, Turkmenistan). Togolok 21 is an Indo-Iranian[1] temple and fortress dated to the first half of the 2nd millennium BC, belonging to the late phase of the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC). Togolok 1 area has also been excavated.

According to the Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture (page 495), the Togolok temple contained rooms where traces of ephedra and hemp were found along with implements for the preparation of a hallucinogenic beverage (later known as soma in India and as haoma in Iran).

Togolok Depe

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

References

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  1. ^ SARIANIDI, V. I. 1990. "Togolok 21, an Indo-Iranian Temple in the Karakum". Bulletin of the Asia Institute. 4: 159-165.
  2. ^ David R. Harris, Origins of Agriculture in Western Central Asia: An Environmental-Archaeological Study. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011. ISBN 1934536512 p61