Daschly

Daschly (Dashly) is an oasis in northern Afghanistan's Jowzjan Province containing 41 Bronze Age archaeological sites excavated by Viktor Sarianidi from 1969-1979. Dashly 1 features a mud-brick citadel (100 x 90 m) with 2-metre-high walls overlooking a settlement, while Dashly 3 preserves an 88 x 84 m fortified compound with distinctive double outer walls and T-shaped corridors. Radiocarbon dates place occupation between c. 2300-1700 BCE (Bronze Age) and 1700-800 BCE (Iron Age). The sites belong to the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC), considered a fifth centre of Old World civilisation alongside Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China.