Комитет по координации развития науки и технологий при кабинете министров республики узбекистан

 Table 1: current Khorezmian periodisation 
BRONZE AGE
Suyargan 
Ia (early stage) 1
st
half 2
nd
millennium B.C. 
Ib (late stage) 11
th
– 9
th
centuries B.C. 
Tazabag’yab II 15
th
– 11
th
centuries B.C. 
EARLY IRON AGE 
Amirabad 
III 9
th
– 8
th
centuries B.C. 
ARCHAIC 
Kiuzeli-g’ir I 7
th
/6
th
century B.C. 
Dingil’dzhe II 6
th
/5
th
century B.C. 
Kalal’i-g’ir 1 III 5
th
century B.C. 
Khazarasp 
IV 5
th
/4
th
century B.C. 
ANTIQUE 
Kangiui 
I (early stage) 4
th
– 3
rd
centuries 
B.C. 
II (late stage) 2
nd
century B.C. – early 1
st
century A.D. 
Kushan 
I (early) 1
st
– 2
nd
century A.D. 
II (late) 3
rd
– 4
th
centuries A.D. 
Hephthalite 4
th
– 6
th
centuries A.D. 
Turk
4
th
century A.D + 
AFRIGHID 
4
th 
(?) – 9
th
centuries A.D. 
In the Neolithic and Bronze Ages the prehistoric 
cultures of Khorezm were closely linked to those of the 
northern steppes. The population was semi-nomadic, 
living largely from hunting and fishing, with some 
limited agriculture and herding. By the Iron Age the 
more wide ranging and culturally sophisticated Saka 
tribes had also established semi-nomadic sites on the 
west bank of the Amu Dar’ya. The first links to the 
world of the Persians were heralded by the appearance 
of large fortified sites on the west bank in the ‘Archaic’ 
period (7
th
/6
th
c. BC – 5
th
/4
th
c. BC). Two fortresses can 
be clearly assigned to the ‘Archaic’ period, Kiuzeli-g’ir 
and later Kalal’i-g’ir 1, as well as the site of 
Dingil’dzhe, a fortified manor house. Kalal’i-g’ir 1 is 
the site with the clearest signs of Persian influence, 
including a sculptural fragment of a griffin which has 
parallels in ornamental capitals at Susa and Persepolis.
The next stage in Khorezmian chronology is the 
‘Antique’ (4
th
c. B.C. – 4
th
c. A.D.), divided into two 
phases. The first, to which Tolstov gave the name 
‘Kangiui’, sees the full flourishing of an independent 
region. Fortresses, farmsteads, ‘urban’ sites and 
religious complexes were built at this time, while the 
material culture experienced a period of conservatism 
lasting until the late 1
st
or early 2
nd
century A.D., 
suggesting limited outside influence until contact with 
the Kushan empire effected a major cultural shift. 
Independent Khorezmia was clearly strong and 
prosperous, albeit fairly small. In the later ‘Antique’ 
period it is by no means clear whether Khorezmia fell 
directly under Kushan rule or if it merely benefited 
from contact during the floruit of the empire. 
Akshakhan-kala dates to the Antique period of 
Khorezmian independence. It is a massive fortified 
complex set in a dune field on the east bank of the Amu 
Dar’ya in the southern part of the modern delta region. 
The dune field is surrounded today by irrigated lands. 
To the north lies the range of hills known as Sultan-uiz-
dagh, a volcanic ridge rich in a variety of different 
minerals. The land is flat and there are several small 
lakes in the general vicinity of the site. Twenty 
kilometres to the north east stands the magnificent 
Kushan period ruling seat of Toprak-kala and in the far 
distance lies the chain of ancient fortresses that ringed 
the oasis in the Antique period: Ayaz-kala, Malai 
Kirghiz-kala, Bolshoi Kirghiz-kala, Kurganshin-kala 
and Djambas-kala.
 
The site of Akshakhan-kala was first recorded in 
Soviet times by the 2
nd
district brigade of the Biruni 
region collective farm ‘Kommuna’. It was studied for 
the first time in 1956 by the Khorezmian Expedition 
under S.P. Tolstov. At that time, as now, the site was