Koktepe II

  General Description   Rapin and Isamiddinov say that beginning in the 7th or 6th century BCE, we see a ’proto-urbaine’ (proto-urban) structure developing at Koktepe, represented by two large fortified areas on platforms. They assign an economic-political function to area A and a sacred one to area B, ^[1] and speculate that they could be the work of sedentary Scythians. ^[2] The cultural context of Koktepe during this period differs from that of eastern Central Asia, as represented by the citadel of Ulug Depe. ^[2]
There may be a case, based on similarities in architectural construction, for treating the areas around Samarkand and Padajatak-tepa (near modern-day Shahr-i Sabz) as part of this polity during this period. In an article on Samarkand, Grenet comments: ’C’est donc avec une totale surprise que, en 1991, la fouille mettait en évidence, partout sous les remparts achéménides tant de l’acropole que du plateau, un premier mur épais de 6 mètres relevant d’une tradition défensive et d’une technique différente: non à galerie intérieure, mais massif; bâti non en briques crues rectangulaires de gabarit régulier, mais en briques ovales plus grossières, "plano-convexes". Il apparaît maintenant que ce type de maçonnerie caractérise sur d’autres sites aussi la toute première phase de la construction urbaine dans les plaines de Sogdiane (Koktepe à 30 km au nord de Samarkand; Padajatak-tepa, la Nautaca des campagnes d’Alexandre, en Sogdiane méridionale près de Shahr-i Sabz) et dans leur appendice ferghanien (Ejlatan, Dalverzin-tepe)’ [It was thus a total surprise when, in 1991, the excavation revealed, throughout the site beneath the Achaemenid ramparts of the acropolis as well as the plateau, a thick earlier wall of 6 metres, related to a different defensive tradition and a different technique: not with an interior gallery, but solid; built not with adobe bricks of a regular size, but of rougher oval-shaped, "plano-convex" bricks. It now appears that this type of masonry also characterizes the very first phase of urban construction at other sites of the Sogdian plain (Koktepe, 30 km north of Samarkand; Padajatak-tepa, the Nautaca of Alexander’s campaigns, in southern Sogdiana near Shahr-i Sabz) and its Ferganian neighbour (Ejlatan, Dalverzin-tepe)]. ^[3]
"The transition between the period of the painted pottery (Koktepe I) and the period of the monumental courtyards (Koktepe II) needs further research, as the differences betwen the north-eastern and south-western trends of the early Iron Age cultures still need explanation." ^[4]
With regard to the transition between Koktepe I and II, Rapin and Isamiddinov say that the first centuries of the 1st millennium BCE are represented throughout the site by an ’épaisse couche organique’ [thick organic layer], suggesting that ’cette période pourrait avoir été celle d’une population semi-sédentaire, peut-être assez nombreuse, qui se serait installée à Koktepe avec du bétail’ [this period could have been one of a semi-sedentary population, perhaps quite numerous, which would have been established at Koktepe with cattle]. ^[1]
According to Claude Rapin, for "the complex question relating to the Early Iron Age in Central Asia" read this (and another 2001 work)
Francfort, H. -P. 1989. Fouilles de Shortugai. Recherches sur l’Asie central protohistorique, Memoires de la Mission archeologique francaise en Asie centrale 2, Paris.
JR: Much of the literature on Iron Age Koktepe is in Russian. See the bibliography compiled by Claude Rapin here (pp. 6-7): ^[5]


 ??? - 1000 BCE Koktepe I
1000 - 750 BCE Chronological gap
750 - 550 BCE Koktepe II "sacred courtyard area" "strongly fortified courtyards" ^[6]
550 - ??? BCE Scythians? "nomadic establishment" ^[6]
 ??? - ??? BCE Koktepe IIIa "totally different expression of monumental urbanism" ^[6] - could be Archaemenid
"not impossible that the nomad layers ... and the platforms of Koktepe ... could correspond to the period of the Persian invasion and the organization of the eastern part of the empire by Darius I." ^[7]
Koktepe IIIa
"The next period is represented at Koktepe by the construction of two platforms with religious and political functions ... and by a huge fortification wall built in the plain around the site." ^[6]
"this rampart seems to have been built at the same time as the fortification that surrounds the plateau of Afrasiab ... Both walls not only protected monumental buildings, but also encircled a large open area, probably for the surrounding population to shelter with their cattle when necessary. This conception is characteristic of Central Asian urbanism near the steppe areas (Francfor 2001), and is also apparent in later cities, such as Ai Khanum or Taxila-Sirkap." ^[6]
"The sacred function of the monument, probably related to early Zoroastrianism (or at least to a local cult affiliated to the Indo-Iranian complex), is confirmed by the evidence of a ritual of foundation performed just before its construction." ^[7]
"Pre-Achaemenid period. Before the arrival of Iranian peoples in Central Asia, Sogdiana had already experienced at least two urban phases. The first was at Sarazm (4th-3rd m. BCE), a town of some 100 hectares has been excavated, where both irrigation agriculture and metallurgy were practiced (Isakov). It has been possible to demonstrate the magnitude of links with the civilization of the Oxus as well as with more distant regions, such as Baluchistan. The second phase began in at least the 15th century BCE at Kok Tepe, on the Bulungur canal north of the Zarafsan River, where the earliest archeological material appears to go back to the Bronze Age, and which persisted throughout the Iron Age, until the arrival from the north of the Iranian-speaking populations that were to become the Sogdian group. It declined with the rise of Samarkand (Rapin, 2007). Pre-Achaemenid Sogdiana is recalled in the Younger Avesta (chap. 1 of the Vidēvdād, q.v.) under the name Gava and said to be inhabited by the Sogdians. ^[8]
Edward Turner’s interpretation of pre-Achaemenid Sogdiana (Koktepe in particular):
’The essential tension was the sedentary population needed (their irrigated) fields for growing crops, nomads needed land for grazing. so the "strongly fortified courtyards" is a manifestation of this tension.
another reason for fortification would be that wave/s of invasion/destruction had happened before:
"By 1600 BCE, peoples carrying the Andronovo cultural package had displaced, if not destroyed, the Bactrian/Margiana towns".
then the Yaz I replaced the Andronovo - UzKok01. (destruction then as well?)
if the inhabitants within the UzKok02 courtyards were Scythians they had probably invaded then settled c750 BCE, presumably causing some destruction of the previous culture.
an important line of evidence for invade/destroy/replace also is that it is likely that about 800 BCE the nomadic tribes around Central Asia began to use armies of horseback archers. the fact the sedentarized Scythians built fortifications must reflect the increased danger from the Steppe.
their identity lasted until either the Achaemenid or until another wave of Scythians destroyed their culture c550 BCE’.

[1]: (Rapin and Isamiddinov 2013, 126) Claude Rapin and Muhammadjon Isamiddinov. 2013. ’Entre sédentaires et nomades: les recherches de la Mission archéologique franco-ouzbèke (MAFOuz) de Sogdiane sur le site de Koktepe’. Cahiers d’Asie centrale 21/22: 113-133. Available online at http://asiecentrale.revues.org/1736.

[2]: (Rapin and Isamiddinov 2013, 127) Claude Rapin and Muhammadjon Isamiddinov. 2013. ’Entre sédentaires et nomades: les recherches de la Mission archéologique franco-ouzbèke (MAFOuz) de Sogdiane sur le site de Koktepe’. Cahiers d’Asie centrale 21/22: 113-133. Available online at http://asiecentrale.revues.org/1736.

[3]: (Grenet 2004, 1052-53) Frantz Grenet. 2004. ’Maracanda/Samarkand, une métropole pré-mongole: Sources écrites et archéologie’. Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales, 59e Année, No. 5/6, Asie centrale: 1043-67.

[4]: (Rapin 2007, 35) Rapin, Claude. "Nomads and the Shaping of Central Asia: from the Early Iron Age to the Kushan Period." in Cribb, Joe. Herrmann, Georgina. 2007. After Alexander: Central Asia before Islam. British Academy.

[5]: http://claude.rapin.free.fr/1BibliographiesPDF/1BiblioMafouz1.pdf.

[6]: (Rapin 2007, 36) Rapin, Claude. "Nomads and the Shaping of Central Asia: from the Early Iron Age to the Kushan Period." in Cribb, Joe. Herrmann, Georgina. 2007. After Alexander: Central Asia before Islam. British Academy.

[7]: (Rapin 2007, 37) Rapin, Claude. "Nomads and the Shaping of Central Asia: from the Early Iron Age to the Kushan Period." in Cribb, Joe. Herrmann, Georgina. 2007. After Alexander: Central Asia before Islam. British Academy.

[8]: (De la Vaissière, Encyclopedia Iranica online, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sogdiana-iii-history-and-archeology)