Altyn Depe

Altyn Depe, the golden hill, is a mound of around 25 hectares near Meana, first settled about 3200 BC and a walled town with watchtowers by the third millennium, excavated on a large scale from 1965 by Soviet archaeologists who found a four-stage platform resembling a Mesopotamian ziggurat, houses of the wealthy with courtyards, craftsmen's quarters, workshops, and burials containing gold objects and seals with parallels in the Indus valley. It belongs to the same broad culture as Gonur Depe further east. The site is unreconstructed and largely unmarked.

What you'll find

• The stepped platform - the ziggurat-like structure found in excavation.
• The mound - around 25 hectares of settlement debris.
• The Indus parallels - the seals and objects linking it to trade far to the southeast.
• The unmarked site - a major excavation left without reconstruction or signage.

When to go

April to May and September to October are the comfortable months. Summer heat is extreme. Spring rain can make the track difficult.

Before you go

There is nothing standing and nothing signposted; the visit is a walk over a mound. Finds are in museums elsewhere. Getting there needs a driver who knows the turning.

Nearby

Meana Baba Mausoleum is nearby, and Abiverd is west.

Key facts