[00:00.00]NARRATOR: Listen to part of a lecture in an archaeology class.[00:06.03]FEMALE PROFESSOR: It's every archaeologist's dream to find a lost civilization, to make some huge discovery, to find artifacts no one else has laid a hand on in millennia. [00:20.52]You might think that this never happens any more, given all the research in archaeology that's been done. [00:25.99]But in the late twentieth century, archaeologists discovered the remains of a sophisticated people whose settlement might have been the hub of a civilization few people even thought existed.[00:37.94]They found this site at the edge of a desert in Turkmenistan, in central Asia, where a series of mounds rise up from the plains.[00:46.17]Now, you might remember because we've talked about this, archaeologists know that mounds such as these are the kinds of geological features that indicate the presence of ancient settlements. Jim?[00:59.31]MALE STUDENT: Um, mounds can be different things, right?[01:09.47] Some are burial places...
[01:11.18]FEMALE PROFESSOR: Exactly. And some are the remains of cities. [01:14.29]The inhabitants would build houses and temples you know, what have you.[01:18.89]And over time, those buildings would fall down or be torn down and then be built over. [01:24.44]Over time, generations of building and rebuilding in the same area would result in a large hill the size of a city.[01:33.47]Careful excavation and documentation of layers in a mound can reveal a wealth of information about the everyday life of a people in a settlement over many periods of occupation.[01:45.22]Now, this particular site is called Gonur-depe.[01:48.66]What was found at Gonur-depe was amazing: the ruins of a huge palace complex, the foundations of shops and houses, the remains of thick walls and towers that fortified the city. [02:09.88]There was even an elaborate canal system and a lot of very intricate jewelry. [02:14.91]All these findings seem to indicate that they are the remains of an ancient civilization that was every bit as advanced as other more famous civilizations of the time. [02:26.08]Like those in Egypt, or, or China. [02:29.00]And the site dates back to 3,000 B.C.E![02:43.67]MALE STUDENT: Did they trade with those other civilizations? [02:46.80]Because if they did, wouldn't there've been some evidence of that?[02:50.46] You know, an artifact found in the ruins of other civilizations?[02:53.92]FEMALE PROFESSOR: That's a good question.[02:55.30] I mentioned Jewelry, well, Jewelry have been found in Mesopotamia and at archaeological sites in modern-day Pakistan. [03:03.67]But archaeologists didn't know where it came from.[03:06.75] Only after the site at Gonur-depe was excavated were archaeologists able to identify it as coming from Gonur-depe. Uh, Sheryl?[03:16.34]MALE STUDENT: I wonder why nobody have found this site before?[03:27.93]FEMALE PROFESSOR: Well, before the discovery of this site, it was commonly believed that central Asia had always been occupied by mostly nomadic people. [03:36.32]So there would be no record of major settlements. [03:38.78]A couple of small finds have been made in the area, but really, no one had looked very hard. [03:44.56]Now, one mystery regarding this site is that archaeological records show it was inhabited for only a few centuries.[03:52.58]MALE STUDENT: What happened to the people who lived there?[03:54.81]FEMALE PROFESSOR: Well, the site was close to the Murgab River, which they would have depended on for their water. [04:00.40]And the Murgab River, which runs toward the west, is the kind of river that shifts its course over time. [04:07.77]So one theory is that the river's course shifted toward the South, and they simply followed it and built new towns to the South.
[04:16.53]Another theory is that they were involved in wars with neighboring settlements.[04:21.23] But we might never know the truth.[04:23.20]One thing we do know is that, in the decades since Gonur-depe was discovered, the site has deteriorated significantly.[04:31.68]I mean, it's been disturbed for the first time in millennia.[04:35.22] And being exposed to the Sun and wind has taken its toll on the ancient city.
[04:40.79]So now the question is, do we partially restore and rebuild the site before the entire thing disintegrates? [04:47.26]It will take a lot of funding to restore it and I am not sure it'll be made available, which would be a pity. [04:54.28]Even a partly altered site can provide valuable information, which would be lost otherwise.
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