О бисере из «белого металла» андроновского населения: к вопросу об истоках традиции

Abstract

Beads made of "white metal" are found in Altai on the one hand, in the Andronovo (Fedorovo) burial site Chekanovsky Log X, on the other hand. They are discovered at the steppe-type sites of the north of Middle Asia, where this category of adornments is quite often. Moreover, in some burials the number of beads is extremely large (300–1200 pieces). The focus in this article is given to the description of Middle Asian complexes with finds of "white metal" beads. The article mainly considers the issue of their chemical composition. According to the spectral analysis, the Middle-Asian beads consisted of copper with a high content of tin or a complex tin-based alloy. Such a composition gave the items a silvery color. It is suggested that such beads were used by the Middle Asia people to substitute silver, more expensive and rare metal. It is assumed that not the beads themselves were valued, but the clothes skillfully embroidered with them. The author concludes that the tradition to use clothes embroidered with beads emerged in the steppe-type sites of Central Asia (Dashti-Kozi, Muminabad burial sites, etc.) due to contacts with the local farmers. But farmers preferred to make beads from stone instead. The tradition to use clothes embroidered with beads of semi-precious gems arises among them probably as a result of contacts with civilizations of the Near East. Such clothes appeared among steppe herders of Middle Asia not to simple copy farmers’ images. They mastered metallurgy and metalworking early enough and preferred metal in making jewelry, including beads. The finds of “white metal” beads in the Chekanovsky Log X burial site is another confirmation of the previously expressed point of view that the Andronovo population of Altai formed under the influence of migration impulses from the southern regions, including Middle Asia.