text: The geographical location of the explorations in southern Turkmenistan were not marked with precision. The Merv Oasis is one of the regions explored by Soviet archeologists of the YuTAKE; Antiochia is the primary site in this oasis. Namazgtepe (tepe means "hill") is 100–120 kilometers from Ashgabat in Turkmenistan at the border with Iran, southeast of the Caspian Sea. Excavations at this site have provided a chronological approach for Central Asia. Namazga-Tepewas the largest settlement found in the Kopetdag foothills, a range of hills extending up to the border with Iran.