Home Region: Turkestan (Central and Northern Eurasia)

Ancient Khwarazm

1000 BCE 521 BCE

D G SC WF R

EQ 2020 uz_khwarasm_1 / UzKhw01

Preceding Entity: Add one more here.

1400 BCE 1000 BCE Koktepe I (uz_koktepe_1) [population replacement]

Succeeding Entity: Add one more here.

750 BCE 550 BCE Koktepe II (uz_koktepe_2) [population replacement]

General Description

"The most interesting Early Iron Age culture of ancient Khorezm was that of Amirabad in the tenth to eighth centuries b.c.2 Dozens more settlements were found in the lower reaches of the former channels of Akcha Darya, the ancient delta of the Amu Darya. The most interesting was Yakka-Parsan II, alongside which were found ancient fields, and the remnants of an Amirabad-period irrigation system (Fig. 1). The old channel passed near by, its banks being reinforced with dykes.Two rows of semi-dugout houses - some twenty in all - were found in the Yakka-Parsan II settlement. Large numbers of storage pits were found around the houses, and the entire site is rich in animal bones, pottery, grain-querns and so on. The houses stood between two canals that merged to the south, all the doors giving on to the canals. Rectangular in ground-plan, the houses were 90 to 110 m2 in area and had two or three rooms. The interiors contained many storage pits and post-holes, each with a long fireplace in the centre. The major finds were pottery, hand-made with a darkish brown, red or greyish slip, the shoulders of the bowls being decorated with small crosses, lattice-work or ’fir-trees’. Accord ing to S. P. Tolstov, the Amirabad culture was genetically akin to the Kaundy complex and dates from the ninth to eighth centuries b.c. It should be observed that the pottery shows more obvious traces of Karasuk influence, the commonest shapes being similar to the ceramics ofthe latter; this entitles us to date its origins to a somewhat earlier period - the tenth century b.c. Other finds include bronze artefacts - a needle with an eye, a sickle with a shaped handle, a bronze arrow¬ head with a shaft - and stone moulds for casting shaft-hole arrowheads and sickles. A bronze sickle, large numbers of grain-querns and the advanced irrigation network and fields together show that agriculture was widely practised, while the bone finds further indicate that the population was engaged in stock- breeding.3" ^[1]
"The Achaemenids found in Sogdiana an urban civilization. Along two divergent canals fed by the Zarafshan, the proto-Dargom and the Bulungur, two gigantic sites, Afrasiab-Samarkand and Kök Tepe - each covering more than two hundred hectares - were occupied from the 8th or 7th century before our era.2 The valley of the Zarafshan had already known an earlier urban phase at the site of Sarazm, a small distance upstream from Samarkand, but this phase had ended a millenium before.3 Kök Tepe declined rapidly, but Samarkand became for two millenia the greatest city of Sogdiana, and, with Merv and Bactra, one of the very great cities of western Central Asia. The Achaemenids brought writing to Sogdiana, and the written language long remained the Aramaic of the Achaemenid Empire." ^[2]
"The 6th and 5th cenuries BC are represented by only a few monuments, and the nature of Persian political and economic control over Chorasmia is,, therefore, still in question. Similarly unresolved is the question of the introduction of large-scale irrigation to the area - whether this was an indigenous development, gradually evolving as the cattle-breeding nomadic tribes became sedentised, or whether it was a new technology introduced by an hydraulic imperial state, the Achaemenid Empire under Darius I, in about 525 BC. Up until last year only three large-scale settlements of this period were properly documented - i.e. Kiuzeli-g’ir, Kakal’i-g’ir, and Chirik-rabat." ^[3]
Reference to check: A. I. Isakov, “Sarazm: An Agricultural Center of Ancient Sogdiana,” Bulletin of the Asia Institute 8, 1996, pp. 1-13.
’The process of urbanization began earlier and on a greater scale in Chorasmia and on the left bank of the middle Syr Darya, localities which were more advanced in economic and cultural terms. They were geographically closer to the ancient urban centres of south-western and southern Central Asia and were open to their influence through Margiana and Sogdiana. They were later incorporated as provinces of the Achaemenid Empire and came into its socio-economic orbit for a time. In the southern Aral region, the sedentary farmers and pastoralists of the Chorasmian oasis represent the Late Bronze Age Amirabad cultural pattern seen in the Dzhanbas and Yakka-Parsan settlements. At that time they had master craftsmen (the ’house of the caster’) with settled houses and social gradations. [...] The oldest Chorasmian city, and the key monument of this period, was Kyuzeli-gir, dating from the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. It lay on the left bank of the Amu Darya in the Sarîkamîsh region of the delta. Standing on a natural elevation, roughly triangular in ground-plan, it occupied an area of 25 ha. The city was surrounded by a powerful defensive wall with oval bastions. Its residential district was densely packed with buildings of rectangular unbaked brick and pakhsa. It had an advanced pottery industry, based on the wheel, and art objects of a type common in Saka burial complexes of the period have been found. Another early city of the same date, Kalalî-gîr, was surrounded by triple walls with bastions and had four gates with entrance barbicans and a hill-top palace, but it was never completed.’ ^[4]
Throughout the periods Helms and Yagodin focus on in their 1997 article (from the end of the Bronze Age to the incursions of the Hephthalites, Turks and early ’Afrighids’ in the mid-1st millennium CE), ’the region saw the infiltration of many nomadic groups (initially cattle-breeders, later also sheep-goat and camel) some of which formed settled communities, even states and empires. These are the Scythians (a generic term), Massagetae, Sacae, Sav[u]romats, Yueh-chih (later "Kushans"), Sarmatians, and others of the Greek, Persian, and Chinese sources. Identifying evidence of their presence has never been easy: the bulk of data has had to come from burials (kurgans) whose contents have been loosely arranged in a relative chronology (see Itina 1979). Recent work by Yagodin has provided more precise information regarding tribal groupings in and about ancient Chorasmia, including the Ustiurt Plateau, as early as the "Archaic" period (Yagodin 1990) and, more generally, the major trade routes (i.e., the Silk Road) through northern Central Asia (Yagodin 1994)’. ^[5]

[1]: (Askarov 1992, 441-443)

[2]: (De la Vaissière 2005, 17)

[3]: (Helms 1998, 87-88)

[4]: (Negmatov 1994, 446)

[5]: (Helms and Yagodin 1997, 44) Svend Helms and Vadim N. Yagodin. 1997. ’Excavations at Kazakl’i-Yatkan in the Tash-Ki’rman Oasis of Ancient Chorasmia: A Preliminary Report’. Iran 35: 45-47.

General Variables

Identity and Location

1 Utm Zone

1 Original Name

2 Capital

3 Alternative Name

Temporal Bounds

1 Duration

Political and Cultural Relations

1 Succeeding Entity

2 Relationship to preceding Entity

2 Polity Succession

1 Degree of Centralization

Language

1 Linguistic Family

1 Language

Religion

Social Complexity Variables

Social Scale

1 Population of the Largest Settlement

1 Polity Territory

1 Polity Population

Hierarchical Complexity

1 Settlement Hierarchy

1 Religious Level

1 Administrative Level

Professions

Bureaucracy Characteristics

1 Examination System

Law

1 Professional Lawyer

Specialized Buildings: polity owned

1 Irrigation System

Transport Infrastructure

1 Road

Special-purpose Sites

1 Mines or Quarry

Information / Writing System

1 Written Record

1 Script

1 Phonetic Alphabetic Writing

1 Nonwritten Record

1 Non Phonetic Writing

Information / Kinds of Written Documents

1 Scientific Literature

1 Sacred Text

1 Religious Literature

1 Practical Literature

1 Philosophy

1 Lists Tables and Classification

1 History

1 Fiction

1 Calendar

Information / Money

1 Paper Currency

1 Indigenous Coin

1 Foreign Coin

Information / Postal System

Information / Measurement System

Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)

Fortifications

1 Wooden Palisade

1 Stone Walls Non Mortared

1 Stone Walls Mortared

1 Settlements in a Defensive Position

1 Modern Fortification

1 Moat

1 Fortified Camp

1 Earth Rampart

1 Ditch

1 Complex Fortification

Military use of Metals

1 Steel

1 Iron

1 Copper

1 Bronze

Projectiles

1 Tension Siege Engine

1 Sling Siege Engine

1 Sling

1 Self Bow

1 Javelin

1 Handheld Firearm

1 Gunpowder Siege Artillery

1 Crossbow

1 Composite Bow

1 Atlatl

Handheld weapons

1 War Club

1 Sword

1 Spear

1 Polearm

1 Dagger

1 Battle Axe

Animals used in warfare

1 Horse

1 Elephant

1 Donkey

1 Dog

1 Camel

Armor

1 Wood Bark Etc

1 Shield

1 Scaled Armor

1 Plate Armor

1 Limb Protection

1 Leather Cloth

1 Laminar Armor

1 Helmet

1 Chainmail

1 Breastplate

Naval technology

1 Specialized Military Vessel

1 Small Vessels Canoes Etc

1 Merchant Ships Pressed Into Service

Economy Variables (Luxury Goods) Coding in Progress.

Religion Variables Coding in Progress.

Crisis Consequence Cases Coding in Progress.

Power Transitions Coding in Progress.

Instability Events Coding in Progress.

NGA Settlements:

Year Range	Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1) was in:
(999 BCE 751 BCE)	Sogdiana

Home NGA: Sogdiana

General Variables

Identity and Location Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Utm Zone	42 T	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Original Name	Ancient Khwarazm	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Capital	Afrasiab-Samarkand	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Capital	Kök Tepe	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Alternative Name	Great Khwarazm Empire	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Alternative Name	Amirabad culture	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Alternative Name	Suyargan culture	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Temporal Bounds Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More
Duration	[1000 BCE ➜ 521 BCE]
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Political and Cultural Relations Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Succeeding Entity	Achaemenid Empire	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Relationship to Preceding Entity	continuity	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Relationship to Preceding Entity	population migration	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Preceding Entity 1400 BCE 1000 BCE	Koktepe I (uz_koktepe_1) [population replacement]
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Succeeding Entity 750 BCE 550 BCE	Koktepe II (uz_koktepe_2) [population replacement]
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Degree of Centralization	quasi-polity	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Language Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Linguistic Family	Iranian	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Language	Sogdian	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Religion Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Social Complexity Variables

Social Scale Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Population of the Largest Settlement	[10,000 to 40,000] people	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Polity Territory	- Undecided	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Polity Population	[50,000 to 100,000] people	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Hierarchical Complexity Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Settlement Hierarchy	[3 to 5]	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Religious Level	- Undecided	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Administrative Level	- Undecided	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Professions Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Bureaucracy Characteristics Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Examination System	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Law Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Professional Lawyer	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Specialized Buildings: polity owned Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Irrigation System	Present	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Transport Infrastructure Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Road	Present Inferred	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Special-purpose Sites Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Mines or Quarry	Present Inferred	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Information / Writing System Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Written Record	Absent	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Script	Absent	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Phonetic Alphabetic Writing	Absent	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Nonwritten Record	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Non Phonetic Writing	Absent	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Information / Kinds of Written Documents Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Scientific Literature	Absent	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Sacred Text	Absent	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Religious Literature	Absent	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Practical Literature	Absent	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Philosophy	Absent	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Lists Tables and Classification	Absent	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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History	Absent	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Fiction	Absent	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Calendar	Absent	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Information / Money Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Paper Currency	Absent	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Indigenous Coin	Absent	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Foreign Coin	Absent Inferred	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Information / Postal System Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Information / Measurement System Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)

Fortifications Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Wooden Palisade	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Stone Walls Non Mortared	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Stone Walls Mortared	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Settlements in a Defensive Position	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Modern Fortification	Absent	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Moat	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Fortified Camp	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Earth Rampart	Present Inferred	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Ditch	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Complex Fortification	Present	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Military use of Metals Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Steel	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Iron	Present	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Copper	Present Inferred	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Bronze	Present	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Projectiles Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Tension Siege Engine	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Sling Siege Engine	Absent	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Sling	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Self Bow	Present Inferred	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Javelin	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Handheld Firearm	Absent	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Gunpowder Siege Artillery	Absent	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Crossbow	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Composite Bow	Present Inferred	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Atlatl	Absent	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Handheld weapons Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
War Club	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Sword	Present	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Spear	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Polearm	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Dagger	Present	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Battle Axe	Present Inferred	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Animals used in warfare Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Horse	Present Inferred	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Elephant	Absent	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Donkey	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Dog	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Camel	Present Inferred	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Armor Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Wood Bark Etc	Present Inferred	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Shield	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Scaled Armor	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Plate Armor	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Limb Protection	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Leather Cloth	Present Inferred	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Laminar Armor	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Helmet	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Chainmail	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Breastplate	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Naval technology Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Specialized Military Vessel	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Small Vessels Canoes Etc	Present Inferred	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Merchant Ships Pressed Into Service	Unknown Suspected	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Economy Variables (Luxury Goods)

Religion Variables

Moralizing Supernatural Punishment and Reward Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Moralizing Enforcement is Broad	Absent Inferred	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Moralizing Supernatural Concern is Primary	Absent Inferred	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Moralizing Enforcement is Agentic	Unknown	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Moralizing Enforcement in This Life	Unknown	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Moralizing Supernatural Punishment And Reward	Present Inferred	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Moralizing Religion Adopted by Commoners	Present Inferred	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Moralizing Enforcement is Targeted	Transitional (Absent -> Present)	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Moralizing Enforcement in Afterlife	Absent Inferred	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Moralizing Religion Adopted by Elites	Present Inferred	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Moralizing Enforcement of Rulers	Present Inferred	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Moralizing Enforcement is Certain	Absent Inferred	1000 BCE 521 BCE
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Human Sacrifice Ancient Khwarazm (uz_khwarasm_1)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More