Metal production of Krasnoozerka and Itkul cultures of the Tobol-Ishim interfluve

Abstract

The data of an analytical study of copper and bronze products of the eastern (Tobol area) variant of the Itkul culture and the Krasnoozerka culture of the Early Iron Age of the Tobol-Ishim interfluve (37 items) are compared. The metal inventory was studied by the methods of X-ray fluorescemce analysis (a laboratory of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences) and metallographic analysis (Tyumen Scientific Centre of SB RAS). The main vectors of historical and metallurgical contacts between the Krasnoozerka tribes and the eastern group of the Itkul tribes are traced. There are connections with the eastern, mining Altaic metal-producing centers, where the tin and tin-arsenic ligature came from. Western, Gumeshevskiy sources of copper had a little significance only for the eastern Itkul tribes, the Krasnoozersk tribes had no access to that copper. Relatively weak contacts also took place with the Sayan centers, from where a small amount of arsenic bronze was delivered in the form of ingots and finished products. At the very beginning of the Early Iron Age in the Eastern Tobol river basin and in the Ishim river basin, casting techniques of artificial low-alloy tin-arsenic and tin bronzes were predominately used for manufacturing tools and weapons. Forging as a method of obtaining finished products was practiced in isolated cases.

Keywords

• Western Siberia
• the Early Iron Age
• metal production
• historical and metallurgical contacts