The responder to this question sometimes shows a region so large that it encompasses much more territory than the name would imply, since Margiana lies in the Kara Kum Desert and Bactria sits in the Northeastern reaches of what is now Afghanistan.
This map shows these areas:
Use your zoom function to find the Murghab River in Turkmenistan, the location of Gonur North, Gonur Depe and other ruined settlements of the Margiana civilization. The region of Balkh along the Amu Darya is the location of the ancient ruins of Bactrian settlements.
Other archeologists or experts in Bronze Age glyptics will usually offer a map much like this one:
Victor Sarianidi shows this map in his interpretive catalog of Bactria-Margiana Archeological Complex artifacts in his work Myths of Ancient Bactria Margiana on Its Seals and Amulets. The motifs, styles and shapes of the glyptics are found to be similar among the findings by archeologists from Crete through Anatolia and Northern Syria, across Iran and Afghanistan from the mouth of the Persian gulf to Bactria-Margiana and Baluchistan, then over the Khyber Pass and on to the Indus Valley.
Traders, travelers and imitative artisans could be the explanation for the wide distribution of similar stone and metal beads, seals and amulets. The distinctive attribute of the Bactria-Margiana culture located in Turkmenistan and in Bactria passed on a religious legacy in the people that continued to inhabit Persia and India: the Zoroastrians. For example, in my own collection of Bactrian stamp seals, I see in the ancient motif the suggestion of a modern mandala design:
This map shows these areas:
Outlined border of the ruins excavated in the Murghab region of Turkmenistan and the Balkh province in Afghanistan showing the location of the ancient Bactrian ruins.
Use your zoom function to find the Murghab River in Turkmenistan, the location of Gonur North, Gonur Depe and other ruined settlements of the Margiana civilization. The region of Balkh along the Amu Darya is the location of the ancient ruins of Bactrian settlements.
Other archeologists or experts in Bronze Age glyptics will usually offer a map much like this one:
Victor Sarianidi shows this map in his interpretive catalog of Bactria-Margiana Archeological Complex artifacts in his work Myths of Ancient Bactria Margiana on Its Seals and Amulets. The motifs, styles and shapes of the glyptics are found to be similar among the findings by archeologists from Crete through Anatolia and Northern Syria, across Iran and Afghanistan from the mouth of the Persian gulf to Bactria-Margiana and Baluchistan, then over the Khyber Pass and on to the Indus Valley.
Traders, travelers and imitative artisans could be the explanation for the wide distribution of similar stone and metal beads, seals and amulets. The distinctive attribute of the Bactria-Margiana culture located in Turkmenistan and in Bactria passed on a religious legacy in the people that continued to inhabit Persia and India: the Zoroastrians. For example, in my own collection of Bactrian stamp seals, I see in the ancient motif the suggestion of a modern mandala design:
Ancient Copper/Bronze Seal from Bactria
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