BMAC or not BMAC? Terminology Versus Archaeology

To define the BMAC phenomenon (Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex), or Oxus Civilization, and above all to refer to a precise chronological period and a better defined geographical area, which certainly goes beyond the limited boundaries that the term suggests, still provokes a heated debate among scholars. The brilliant intuition of ViktorIvanovich Sarianidi undoubtedly needs further on-field investigations to fully understand the dynamics that led to the formation, apogee and dissolution of the BMAC phenomenon. To date, unfortunately, many scientific limitations still hinder a broader and more decisive understanding of the phenomenon. The limited geographical boundaries that are erroneously believed to be those of BMAC expansion (present-day northern Afghanistan, southern Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, and north-eastern Iran), the numerical insufficiency of the investigated BMAC sites, the isolated chronological sequences based on ceramic seriations and radiocarbon dating of individual settlements, that often define a sub-culture and not the BMAC phenomenon as a whole, as well as the all-too-often partial interpretation of some scholars, make difficult a broader and all-encompassing vision of the whole. Undoubtedly, it is not easy for those who try "to empty the sea with a teaspoon", as those who have remained to excavate in the Bronze Age Margiana know very well. In the Murghab alluvial fan, the Middle Bronze Age archaeological site distribution seems to demonstrate the very consistent development of a settlement pattern and political-cultural system hierarchically organized, with the central large site of Gonur North. The city was the BMAC ‘capital’ of the surrounding medium- and small-size satellite towns and the administrative activity was distributed on the whole immediate territory through a coherent system of secondary size sites, controlling modular territories. Togolok 1 is considered one of these secondary-size settlements, a fundamental connection between the BMAC capital and the rest of the territory belonging to its jurisdiction. The strategic intra and extra- regional importance of Togolok 1, the uninterrupted chronological sequence from the BMAC fluorescence to the following dissolution, as well as the direct interconnection with pastoral cultures from the southern regions of Siberia and northern Kazakhstan, which represents an important piece of this exciting mosaic, confirm the accuracy of our operative strategy so that a further window can be opened on the complexity of the BMAC system.

کلیدواژه ها:

Central Asia ، Ancient Margiana ، BMAC ، Togolok 1 ، agropastoralists