Metallographic analysis of objects of the Bronze Age and early Iron Age from the territory of the Kokshetau Upland

Research Article

Abstract

The article presents the results of metallographic analysis of metal objects and rock fragments discovered in the territory of the Kokshetau Upland, which is administratively located within the Akmola region of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The area is of interest since it was a developed mining and metallurgical centre from the second millennium BC, part of the large Eurasian metallurgical province. Judging by the available data, it functioned for a long time. The objective of the study was to identify the features of the metal of products of different historical stages, to determine the continuity and features of the development of metallurgy in a specific and local territory of Northern Eurasia. A total of thirty-six artifacts from sites where stationary excavations or exploration activities were carried out in the period from 2010 to 2022 were analysed. The chronology of the sites from which they were selected refers to a wide period of time from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Saka time and the Hunno-Sarmatian period. Artifacts for analysis were collected in seven sites, which are located in the main mountain forest massifs of the Kokshetau Upland. In the Zerenda Mountains – settlement Shagalaly II and burial mound Shagalaly IV. In the Sandyktau Mountains, three mine workings, near the settlement of the Late Bronze Age. In the Burabay mountain forest massif – burial mound Ulkensor, settlement Akkain, mine working Madeniet, settlement Saule. The largest collections are represented by materials from two settlements of the Late Bronze Age (beginning - second half of the 2nd millennium BC). Six items were from the settlement Shagalaly II - two metal ingots, two bronze jewellery tools, a needle from a bronze rod, a bronze chisel, and a dagger with a plastic blade. A metal sickle-shaped tool, a single-edged plate sickle knife, two single-edged knives with a distinct handle, a single-edged plate knife, a dagger knife belonging to the category of handled knives, and a fragment of a metal knife were from the Akkain settlement. The list includes a knife from a mine working near the village of Madeniet and a defective product from the Saule settlement. In addition, artifacts associated with the metallurgical cycle were analysed – pieces of waste rock, defects, and slag. The Early Saka period (VII - VI centuries BC) is represented by seven arrowheads from a burial in the Ulkensor mound studied in the Burabay district. Also, jewellery from a female late Sarmatian burial in a stone mound studied in the Zerenda district belongs to the Hunno-Sarmatian period (II - IV centuries AD). Thus, all the main historical and chronological periods characterized by bronze metallurgy were presented.