OLDEST SEALS OF CENTRAL ASIA (TYPOLOGY, MATERIAL, MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY)
The paper deals with systematization of the oldest Central Asian seals that were found at the late Middle Eneolithic - Early Bronze Age settlements of South Turkmenistan. Stone and terracotta flat «seals-amulets» (with a hole in the upper part - fig. 1, 4-13 ) are characteristic of the Late Eneolithic (Namazga III period, ca. 3150-2800/2700 BC). Images on the front sides of these objects are made by incised lines and/or pyramidal depressions forming cruciform «stepped» patterns. Such «seals-amulets» are known exclusively from Central Asian sites. Flat «seals-buttons» (with two holes in the center) made of clay and bone appear at the very end of the Late Eneolithic ( ca. 2800s BC). As is evidenced by the stratigraphy of Altyn-depe, the stone seals of this type are mainly characteristic of the Early Bronze Age (Namazga IV period, ca. 2800/2700-2400/2300 BC). Images on the front sides of «seals-buttons» are made by both incising/engraving (fig. 1, 1-3 ; 3, 3, 5, 10, 12, 14, 15, 23 ) and shallow spot drilling (fig. 2, 4, 6-9, 21, 22 ). «Seals-stamps» (with a suspension eye on the rear side) of terracotta and copper date from the beginning of Early Bronze Age. They bear patterns of drawn lines (fig. 2, 10 ) or lines combining with circles made by a hollow drill (fig. 2, 11, 13 ). However, judging by the imprints (fig. 3, 2, 4, 7, 9 ), the earliest «seals-stamps» were manufactured as early as the end of the Late Eneolithic. Metal «sealsstamps» with high embossed images made in the lost-mould casting technique appear at the very end of the Early Bronze Age (fig. 2, 1 ) and are characteristic of the Midle Bronze Age (Namazga V period, ca. 2350-2000/1900s BC).