Ore Sources of the Southern Cis-Urals and Their Relationship with Settlement Sites of the Ural Abashevo Culture

Abstract

The paper addresses the connections of the main ore-bearing sources of the Southern Urals region with the monuments of the Ural Abashevo culture. As a result of a comprehensive analysis, a possible connection of the archaeological monuments with the sources of ore raw materials was established. The appearance of Beregovsky, Tyubyaksky and other economic and cultural centers (ECCs) is primarily due to the presence of an optimal ecological situation in the basin of the upper reaches of the Belaya River. A total of three groups of ore occurrences have been identified in the Southern Urals: Kuyurgaza-Belorechenskoye, Iksko-Demskoye and Sakmaro-Uralskoye. These clusters of ore occurrences could have theoretically served as sources for raw materials for the population of all known settlements of the Bronze Age in this part of the region. However, the practical use of other numerous ore occurrences in the territory of the Southern Urals remains unclear, since they have not been studied archaeologically, and remain an extremely relevant area in the study of ancient production.

Keywords

• archaeology
• the southern cis-urals
• ural abashevo culture
• settlement sites
• copper deposits and ore occurrences