The Significance of Stone Processing in the Bronze Age (Based on Materials from Gonur Depe, Southern Turkmenistan)

The application of stone to create a various household and sacred products is widely known in many Eurasian Bronze Age sites, but the manufacturing technology remains poorly understood. This fully applies to the materials of Southern Turkmenistan where large multilayer settlements are investigated. These include Gonur Depe administrative and religious center of Ancient Margiana. Among its materials, the so-called “columns” were revealed, which are most often discovered in sacred complexes. Their shape resembles a chess piece—a rook—the upper part of some artifacts has a mushroom-shaped hat. Many details of their manufacture were examined only due to their surface studying with a microscope. These are areas with traces of pecking and preliminary marking for cutting grooves or gutters: narrow strips formed from friction. Also, we observed the particles of metal oxide on the surface of several columns that confirms the use of metal tools in the manufacturing process. The depth of the grooves does not exceed 0.2 cm, they have arched or rectangular profiles. In our collection, the variability of the columns sizes, location of the grooves on their bases and body are not caused by the different forms of these artifacts. Further, an experimental reconstruction of their manufacturing technology is expected to detail their production process.