Western portion of the
Oxus-Indus Heartland
![[Western Oxus-Indus Heartland map]](wcasia-map.jpg)
Central to the western Oxus-Indus Heartland region is the Kopet Dagh mountain range, left center
on this map. The Kopet Dagh range
marks the northern edge of the Iranian Plateau. Draining west from it to the southeastern corner of
the Caspian Sea are the Atrek and Gurgan Rivers. The drainage system of these two rivers forms
modern Turkmenistan, but in the ancient world was the locus of an Early Bronze (ca. 3000 - ca. 2600)
proto-urban culture. The central region of the Kopet Dagh is drained by the Murghab and Tedjen Rivers,
the drainage system of which defines ancient Margiana and modern Uzbekistan. To the West of the
range is the drainage system of the Oxus River (modern Amu Darya River). It was the location of
Proto-Bactria (modern Afghan Turkestan).
In the Western Oxus-Indus region was located the Early Bronze (proto-urban) culture of
Namazga IV (ca. 3000 to ca. 2600). The Middle Bronze culture of the region (Namazga V and early
VI, Altyn Tepe 3-1) (ca. 2600-2200) was fully urban, had social classes and apparently an urban
government centered at a temple on a platform pyramid not unlike Near Eastern ziggurats.
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