Koktepe

Koktepe, known locally as Sayiltepa, lies on an old bed of the Bulungur stream in Payariq district, where the farmland of the Zarafshan valley once met the steppe. The town was lived in from about the 9th to the 4th century BC; it is a square of about 23 hectares with traces of walls all round and four gateways.

Excavations found the tomb of a woman of high rank, often called the Sarmatian princess, buried with rich goods. The site helps scholars understand how nomads and settled farmers lived side by side, and it may be the town of Gabae named by ancient writers.

• Grave of a nomad princess
• Early Iron Age town walls and gates
• Where steppe and oasis met