The Bronze Age set­tle­ment (2300 BC) is locat­ed in the south­east of Turk­menistan, in the Mary oasis. Dis­cov­ered in 1972 by the Mar­giana archae­o­log­i­cal expe­di­tion. Gonur­depe was the largest set­tle­ment in Mar­giana — a cap­i­tal city with a palace and sev­er­al tem­ples. Its area has not been pre­cise­ly estab­lished, and accord­ing to var­i­ous esti­mates it ranges from 20 to 50 hectares. The tem­ple city exist­ed until the end of the 16th cen­tu­ry BC.