Abstract
It has been already pointed out by several scholars, that settlement situation of the region of Bactria in the Hellenistic period doesn't correspond to its image created by a few written sources of later date, which present Bactria as an urbanised area. However still unsolved question is, how organised this "less-urbanised settlement" was, and what kind of settlement patterns were applied by new coming rulers of Bactria after the turbulent period, which followed the fall of the Achaemenid empire.
Did Seleucids and their independent successors carry on indigenous land management of the preceding rulers, or rework it anew? Is it even possible to answer these questions, based on the current state of archaeological research? The paper presents detailed study of a few selected areas - lesser regions in both northern and southern Bactria - which offer a sufficient data, in order to highlight general trends connected with the rule of Alexanders heirs in different environments of the region. Data were processed using GIS tools and methodology of landscape archaeology.
Particular interest is devoted to rural agglomerations and their relation and interconnection to local (urban?) central sites. Aim of the paper is thus not to present a complex image of historical settlement, but to contribute to a longstanding archaeological (re)construction of Hellenistic period's settlement.