Jeitun (Djeitun)
Jeytun · Jeýtun · Dzheitun
Jeitun Neolithic 6000–5000 BCE → Pessejik phase·Jeitun culture (Central Asian Neolithic)·🇹🇲 Ahal Province, 30 km north of Ashgabat, northern foothills of Kopet Dag range (Kopet Dag piedmont), Turkmenistan
About
About Jeitun (Djeitun)
Type-site for Neolithic Jeitun culture (c.6000–5000 BCE) in the Kopet Dag piedmont north of Ashgabat — 10 house settlement (0.8 ha) excavated 1952–62 by Vadim Masson, the earliest permanent farming village in Turkmenistan. Jeitun has 30 rectangular mudbrick houses (4×6 m) with plastered floors and hearth, early painted ceramics (Jeitun Ware red with geometric), domesticated wheat/barley (einkorn 6000 BCE) and sheep/goat, plus clay figurines. Jeitun culture spread over 20 sites in the Kopet Dag foothills (e.g., Togolok-1, Chagylly) and underlies the whole Anau–Namazga sequence, bridging Zagros Neolithic to Central Asian oasis urbanism.
Why it mattersFirst farmer village in Turkmenistan — type-defines Jeitun Neolithic underlying entire Kopet–Murghab Oasis sequence to Namazga/Bronze Age urbanism.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Was Jeitun wheat from Zagros or local Kopet wild?
Theories
- 01Kopet Dag as eastward Zagros Neolithic wave (Masson Fertile Crescent extension)
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.6000–5500 BCE earliest village
- Period
- Jeitun Neolithic 6000–5000 BCE → Pessejik phase
- Culture
- Jeitun culture (Central Asian Neolithic)
- Builders
- Kopet Dag Neolithic farmers (Proto-Turkmen)
- Purpose
- First permanent farming village in the Turkmen Kopet Dag with dry-farming wheat
- Abandoned
- c.5000 BCE (shift to larger oases Chopan, Togolok)
- Rediscovered
- 1952–62 Masson excavation (South Turkmenistan Complex Expedition)
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.6000 BCE
Founding: 10 mudbrick houses on Kopet foothills, wheat/barley + sheep
c.5500–5000 BCE
Climax: 30 houses, painted Jeitun ware, figurines
1952–62
Vadim Masson defines Jeitun culture and Kopet Dag Neolithic
On the ground
Structures & features
38.1035° N · 58.2065° E · 300 m · 2 mapped features
Central Residential Block
settlementRectangular mudbrick houses 4×6 m with plastered hearths at settlement center
38.1038° N · 58.2067° EOuter painted ware midden
middenPainted Jeitun Ware sherd midden on settlement periphery with ash
38.1032° N · 58.2063° E