Iranica Antiqua, vol. XLIX, 2014 doi: 10.2143/IA.49.0.3009247 THE ENCLOSURE OF TCHINGIZ-TEPE (ANCIENT TERMEZ, UZBEKISTAN) DURING THE KUSHAN AND KUSHAN-SASSANIAN PERIODS. ARCHAEOLOGICAL STRATIGRAPHY AND 14 C DATING ANALYSES BY Verònica MARTINEZ FERRERAS 1 , Enrique ARIÑO GIL 2 , Josep M. GURT ESPARRAGUERA 1 & Shakir PIDAEV 3 ( 1 University of Barcelona, ERAAUB; 2 University of Salamanca; 3 Institute of Fine Arts, Tashkent) Abstract: The walled enclosure of Tchingiz Tepe is part of the urban complex of Ancient Termez in South Uzbekistan. Situated on a hill to the north-west of the city, the archaeological remains consists of an adobe wall, a monumental building located in the centre of the enclosure, various dwellings attached to the wall, and at least one pottery kiln. The study of the stratigraphic sequence com- bined with 14 C dating allows the reconstruction of the successive occupations of the enclosure which began with the building of the wall during the Early Kushan or Yuezhi periods (between the mid-second century BC and the mid-first century BC). Later, during the Kushan period (from the mid-first century BC to the mid- third century AD), it was used as a Buddhist place of worship, and then reverted to military use during the Kushan-Sassanian period (mid-third century AD to early fifth century AD). Key-words: Yuezhi, Kushan, Sassanian, Buddhist monastic centre, Stratigraphic record, Radiocarbon dates. 1. Introduction The site of Ancient Termez is located in the arid region of southern Uzbekistan, in the Afghan-Tajik Depression, on the banks of the Amu Darya (the ancient Oxus River), close to the mouth of its tributary, the Surkhan Darya (fig. 1). Alexandria Oxiana has been suggested as the ancient name of the city, but this attribution remains controversial (Ler- iche & Pidaev 2007: 181; Rtweladse 2009: 217, 2010). In the seventh century the town was called Ta-mi by the Chinese traveller Zhang Qian, and in the following centuries Arabic authors referred to the city as Tirmiz