Altyn Depe

Altyn Depe, the golden hill, is a mound of around twenty six hectares near Meana that was a substantial town in the third millennium BC, excavated by Soviet archaeologists who found a stepped platform resembling a ziggurat, 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 actually see

• The stepped platform - the ziggurat-like structure found in excavation.
• The mound - around twenty six 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.

Honest expectations

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.