Sarianidi participated in excavations of monuments of Tahirbey, Yaz Depe (1955-1956), Togolok (1970s). From 1974, he supervised excavations that led to the uncovering of the culture of Margiana (or Margush), and the discovery in 1990 of over 200 settlements dating to the Bronze Age and early Iron Age. Chief amongst these was the capital city Gonur Tepe, which was founded at the end of the third millennium BCE, lasting till around 1600 BCE. The city had a central palace protected by fortified walls with rectangular towers. Outside these walls, on the eastern side, was discovered the earliest known Fire temple, "predating Zoroaster BC? by at least fifteen hundred years but linked with what would become the rituals of his faith". Sacrificial temples had been set up along the southern and western faces of the walls. The temples were surrounded by a second series of reinforced monumental walls. In the south, two pools (one measuring 100 by 60 metres) were discovered, based on which it was speculated that the population of Gonur worshipped water. The discoveries of Margush and Gonurdepe caused Sarianidi to argue "that they proved that the Amu Darya (Oxus River) valley in Central Asia constitutes a fourth point of origin of urban civilization, along with the Nile, Indus, and Tigris-Euphrates valleys."