FINDINGS ON THE COMPOSITION OF NON-FERROUS METAL OBTAINED FROM THE BURIAL GROUNDS OF THE BRONZE AGE IN THE SOUTH URALS (TAVLYKAEVO 1-2, STARO-YABALAKLY)

Abstract

The article presents the results of elemental analysis of the composition of metal objects obtained from the burial grounds dating back to the Srubna culture of the South Urals. The data were received through analyzing the most common category of jewelry - bronze bracelets. The prevailing shapes are open grooved bracelets with rounded ends, as well as bracelets made of rods and twisted wires with semicircular and triangular sections. The main purpose of this work is to give a general description of the oldest metal composition and compare the series of findings from the Cis-Urals and Trans-Urals. The first stage of the work involved examination of 10 samples of the Trans-Ural group of objects from Tavlykaevo 1 and 2 burials and 7 decorations from the Srubna burials of the Staro-Yabalakly necropolis (Cis-Urals). The principal metallurgical group includes tin bronzes with three-component alloys of copper, tin and lead or copper, tin and antimony. In terms of its composition, the series of findings under study was quite clearly differentiated. In the Trans-Ural assemblages, objects with addition of lead were primarily found in the burials of Tavlykaevo I burial ground, while in Tavlykaevo 2 burial ground, copper-tin alloys with antimony inclusions prevailed. In the Staro-Yabalakly necropolis, a single object might contain an admixture of antimony and lead. Depending on the elemental composition of non-ferrous metals in various categories of objects, it is hypothetically possible to reconstruct the directions of metal supply to the South Urals and characterize the local features of the metallurgy development in this region in the Bronze Age.</jats:p