Site Description
The site indicates an early steppe presence in the Zarafshan Valley. About 5000 years ago it was "the largest metallurgical center of Central Asia engaged in export". It was abandoned after the arrival of the Indo-Iranians, around 2000 BC.
The city is believed to have been revived as a mining point to collect from nearby sources of turquoise. Established no later that 1500 BC, the city also served as an important regional agricultural and copper production center.
The town was discovered by a local farmer named Ashurali Tailonov in 1976 who found a copper dagger protruding from a nearby construction site. It was excavated by Abdullo Isakov and French archaeologists beginning in 1977.
Read more about this topic: Sarazm
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