Aq Kupruk is also an
archaeological site consisting of four sites, numbered I, II, III and IV.
Aq Kupruk I, or Ghar-i Asb, is a
rock shelter of the
Kushan-
Sasanian period, containing some fragmentary Buddhist frescos and some simple architecture.
Aq Kupruk II, or Ghār-i Mār, is another rock shelter, probably the most productive of the three sites, producing material from all periods except the Kushan-Sasanian. About 10% of the occupation area was excavated.
Aq Kupruk III, is an open-air site on the river terrace consisting of two periods, both in the
Epipalaeolithic.
Aq Kupruk IV, was excavated briefly by McBurney nearer to the village, producing a "Middle
Mousterian" type of industry differing from that found by
Dupree.
Finds included an extensive and sophisticated stone tool industry, very early stone sculpture, domesticated sheep and goat remains, fragments of beaten copper from the
ceramicNeolithic, many projectile points,
terracotta and simple jewellery.
Archaeological Gazetter of Afghanistan / Catalogue des Sites Archéologiques D'Afghanistan, Volume I, Warwick Ball, Editions Recherche sur les civilisations, Paris, 1982.
Hayashi and Sahara in Mizuno. S. (ed) 1962. Haibāk and Kashmir-Smast. Kyoto: 54–5, 105.
Dupree, L.et al. 1972. Prehistoric Research in Afghanistan (1959-1966) (4.12). Philadelphia.
McBurney, C.B.M. 1972. 'Report of an archaeological survey in northern Afghanistan'. July–August 1971'. Afghanistan 25, 2: 22–32.
Davis in Allchin, R. and Hammond, N. (eds) 1978. The Archaeology of Afghanistan. London: 55–63.
Shaffer in Allchin, R. and Hammond, N. (eds) 1978. The Archaeology of Afghanistan. London: 74–81, 89–90.
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Derevyenko and Liu Zun-E in Dani, A.H. and Masson, V.M. (eds) 1992. History of Civilizations of Central Asia (volume 1): The dawn of civilization - earliest times to 700 B.C. Paris.
Sarianidi in Dani, A.H. and Masson, V.M. (eds) 1992. History of Civilizations of Central Asia (volume 1): The dawn of civilization - earliest times to 700 B.C. Paris.