Togolok is an archaeological site in the Murghab Delta, Turkmenistan, located about 10–15km south of Gonur (or about 40km north of Mary, Turkmenistan). Togolok 21 is theorized to be an Indo-Iranian[1] temple and fortress dated to the first half of the 2nd millennium BC, belonging to the late phase of the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC). Togolok 1 area has also been excavated. Since 2014, the Togolok 1 site has been excavated by the TAP - Togolok Archaeological Project, directed by Barbara Cerasetti (FU Berlin, ISMEO), in collaboration with the University of Bern.
According to the Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture (page 495), the Togolok temple contained rooms where traces of ephedra and hemp were found along with implements for the preparation of a hallucinogenic beverage (which may be connected to the Hindu drink soma and the Zoroastrian drink haoma).
Togolok Depe
The name 'Togolok' is also applied to another much older site in Turkmenistan known as 'Togolok-tepe'. This settlement started in the Neolithic during the Jeitun period around 7000 BC.[2] It is located in the Kopet-Dagh foothills near the ancient Jeitun settlement. The site has been excavated and published in 1964 in Russian.
References
↑SARIANIDI, V. I. 1990. "Togolok 21, an Indo-Iranian Temple in the Karakum". Bulletin of the Asia Institute. 4: 159-165.
2019 CERASETTI, B. et al. Bronze and Iron Age urbanization in Turkmenistan. Preliminary results from the excavation of Togolok 1 on the Murghab alluvial fan. In C. Baumer, M. Novák (eds) Urban Cultures of Central Asia from the Bronze Age to the Karakhanids. Learnings and conclusions from new archaeological investigations and discoveries. SVA 12, Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Verlag: 63-72.
2022 CERASETTI, B. et al. The Rise and Decline of the Desert Cities: The Last Stages of the BMAC at Togolok 1 (Southern Turkmenistan). In C. Baumer et al. (eds) Cultures in Contact. Central Asia as Focus of Trade, Cultural Exchange and Knowledge Transmission. SVA 19. Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Verlag: 89-115.
2022 Billings, T.N., CERASETTI, B. et al. Agriculture in the Karakum: An archaeobotanical analysis from Togolok 1, southern Turkmenistan (ca. 2300-1700 B.C.). Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, "Effects of Novel Environments on Domesticated Species". DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.995490
