Dzheitun

the remains of the most ancient settlement of farmers and stock breeders in Middle Asia (fifth millennium B.C.), located 30 km north of Ashkhabad. The farmers made use of the periodic overflow of the streams flowing down from the Kopet-Dag Range for irrigation. The South Turkmen Archaeological Expedition has been investigating Dzheitun since 1952. The settlement consisted of small, one-room adobe houses. Excavated items include grains of wheat and barley, bones of wild and (in smaller numbers) domestic animals, flint (sickle blades and geometric microliths) and bone implements, clay dishes decorated with simple geometric designs, and stone and clay figurines of animals. The items from Dzheitun characterize an early stage of the development of agricultural culture and have a great deal in common with remains of this type in the Near East (Jarmo, Jericho, and others).