Résumé
During the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2200-1700 BC) flourished the Oxus Civilization or Bactriana-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC) in the “oasis zone” – present-day southern Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, southern Kyrgyzstan, northern Afghanistan and north-eastern Iran. The location between harsh deserts and high mountain ranges, which always formed naturally pass ways had a deep impact on the evolution of these societies. The first structured proto-urban cities as Gonur Depe, Ulug Depe, Namazga Depe, Sapalli Tepa or Dzharkutan, rose in this region. Populations of the BMAC are known as sedentary communities, whose economy were based on both pastoralism and agriculture. The talk will present new results on isotopic studies of human and animals of Ulug Depe in southern Turkmenistan. The results will be put into perspective of contemporaneous sites in the oasis zone as Dzharkutan and Sapalli Tepa in south Uzbekistan. Ulug Depe was a cultural and political center for the surrounding area. The BMAC people were involved in long-distance interactions and interregional exchanges through an active trade system. The results of 87Sr /86Sr and δ18O of Ulug humans indicate not only a high ratio of immigration, and therefore strong mutual influences of different cultures and ethnics; but also, a lively pattern of mobility. To get a better picture of everyday life, foodways, food supply, and nutrition of these people, subsistence engagements in form of collagen analyses (δ15N, δ13C) of humans and animals will be discussed following the issues of environmental and climatic conditions of the surrounding region.