[2] The archaeological site of the ancient city of Sarazm is located near Sohibnazar, a village situated on the left bank of the river Zeravshan, near the border with Uzbekistan.

[8] Sarazm was the first city in Central Asia to maintain economic relations with a network of settlements covering a vast territory from the Turkmenistan steppes and the Aral sea (in the northwest) to the Iranian Plateau and the Indus (in the south and southeast).

[3] Following surface discoveries unearthed due to agricultural activity, the first excavation of the site started in 1977 and was conducted by Abdullah Isakov of the Academy of Science of Tajikistan.

[9] In 1985, a cooperation agreement was signed between the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) and the Tajik Academy of Science for three years, a partnership that would be renewed until 1998, when the French mission changed towards supporting the preservation of the site.

There are about 1.5 to 2 meters of deposits in total for about a millennium of occupation and not all four layers are found in every location, suggesting the settlement moved over the centuries.

[7] A large metal repertoire has been unearthed from the II, III and IV layers: daggers, awls, chisels, axes and decorative pieces were among the discoveries.

[11] There is ample evidence that the metal was actually worked in Sarazm using techniques similar to those used in Mesopotamia, the Iranian Plateau and the Indus Valley.

[3] Wheat (free-threshing hexaploid) and barley (both naked and hulled) were discovered at the site, while evidence for broomcorn millet and pulses were not found.

[12] Those buildings seem to be well thought out with clear plans, regular bricks with walls that are sometimes covered in coloured coating, however their functions remain unclear.

[3] Following the analysis of the remains, the anthropologist Khodzhaiov has concluded that the people of Sarazm originated in southern part of Central and Southwest Asia and are genetically related to the population of other Eneolithic sites in Turkmenistan (Göksur and Qara-depe).

Priya Moorjani, et al. (2024), show that most Indians derive ancestry from three ancestral groups related to ancient Iranian farmers, Eurasian Steppe pastoralists and South Asian hunter-gatherers.

Pottery was richly ornamented with motifs such as circles, crosses, triangles, lines and net pattern painted using red, yellow and blue pigments.

[16] Terracotta statuettes of women and animals with magical powers were also found as sculptural figures emerged as an important artistic trend.

With the help of local people and the CRATerre research institute, a protective coating of rice husk and stabilised earth has been designed to cover fragile previously uncovered areas.