On November 24, within the framework of the visit to Paris of the Turkmen delegation headed by the Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan Myahrijemal Mammedova, the conference “Ulug-Depe - a major center for studying the protohistory of Central Asia” was held in the Louvre.

The conference was devoted to historical values found during excavations in Ulug-Depe in Turkmenistan by the joint Turkmen-French archaeological mission (MAFTOUR).

The forum was attended by about 500 people, including archaeologists, historians, as well as students studying art, art history and archeology. In addition, the conference was broadcast online for lovers of antiquities.

Among the speakers at the conference were Ariana Thomas, Director of the Department of Oriental Antiquities of the Louvre, Director of the National Administration of Turkmenistan for the Protection, Study and Restoration of Historical and Cultural Monuments, Doctor of Architecture Muhammed Mamedov, as well as Director of the French-Turkmen Archaeological Mission, Doctor of Archeology, representative of the National Research center of France, Julio Bendezu Sarmiento. They familiarized the participants in detail with the activities of the French-Turkmen Archaeological Mission (MAFTOUR) in Turkmenistan and the results of archaeological excavations.

The Ulug-Depe monument, located in the Kaka etrap, 175 km southeast of the capital Ashgabat, occupies 15 hectares of area. The height of the hill is 30 meters above the current plain.

People have lived here since the Neolithic period. The time of the greatest development of the Ulug-Depe settlement falls on the early copper age (5000-4000 BC). Even then, they were engaged in irrigated agriculture and animal husbandry.

Let us remind that the artifacts found during the excavations of the Ulug-Depe settlements are planned to be exhibited in the Louvre.