Decorative motifs of the Early Iron Age (Yaz I) pottery in southern Turkmenistan

In the early phase of the Iron Age, approximately the second half of the 2nd millennium BC, the territory ofpresent-day Turkmenistan was divided into two cultural zones: the south-western and the south-eastern ones. The first covered the plain stretching between the Caspian Sea and the Kopet-dag Mountains, including some valleys in north-western Iran. It was occupied by the so-called Ancient dakhistan Culture. The second zone extended from the foothills of the central part of the Kopet dag Mountains towards the fertile delta of the river Murghab. This area was occupied by the yaz I culture which takes its name from the first level of the site of yaz-depe in the Murghab delta.