Zavodoukovskoe 11 — a fortified settlement of the Late Bronze Age of the Trans-Urals

Abstract

This publication is aimed at introducing the Late Bronze Age materials obtained during the five-year excavations of the fortified settlement of Zavodoukovskoe 11 located in the forest-steppe area of the Tobol River basin. This is the first site of the Pakhomovskaya Culture with defense structures. The aim of the analysis of its materials is their comprehensive characterization and determination of their place among the Andronoid antiquities of the Late Bronze Age. In the paper, the methods of planistratigraphic observation, relative and absolute dating, and typological and traceological determination of artefacts have been used, as well as statistical analyses in the study of the pottery. The Late Bronze Age complex comprises remains of six structures, most of the pits beyond their boundaries, and defense lines represented by the earthwork of a mound and two non-contemporaneous ditches. The buildings investigated at the settlement of Zavodoukovskoe 11 can be characterized as frame-andpillar semiburied dwellings (half-dugouts?) of a rectangular or square shape, with an entrance porch or with an additional chamber — a housekeeping area, as well as with the inground hearths delineated by grooves. These housebuilding elements bear a similarity with the materials of other Pakhomovskaya Culture sites. The Late Iron Age toolset of Zavodoukovskoe 11 bears evidence of a population engaged in fishing, metalwork, leathermaking, pottery making, spinning, and stone working. The faunal materials and fishing items suggest that the economy of the Pakhomovskaya population was complex, combining elements of producing and procuring. The pottery complex of Zavodoukovskoe 11 is a peculiar one and combines ornamental traits of two cultural traditions — Pakhomovskaya and Suzgun. The high density of wire staples, rows of vertical impressions, and horizontal lines formed by comb stamp impart a Suzgun flair to the ceramics of Zavodoukovskoe 11. The similarity of the pottery of this site with both Pakhomovskaya as well as Suzgun pottery materials may indicate its transitional nature, the direct succession between the two Cultures. On the basis of the existing chronological margins for the Andronoid Cultures, radiocarbon dates from the Zavodoukovskoe 11 site, and specifics of its pottery complex, it has been suggested that this fortified settlement likely was functioning in the 13th–12th centuries.

Keywords

• trans-urals
• tobol-iset’ interfluve
• late bronze age
• pakhomovskaya culture
• suzgun culture
• fortified settlement