Bronze Items Research Articles

Examinations on small bronze items from the Hallstatt period burial ground at Mitterkirchen in Upper Austria

Abstract A partially destroyed burial ground from the Hallstatt period in the area of Mitterkirchen in Upper Austria was archaeologically investigated. The graves are dated to the Hallstatt C period corresponding to the 8th/7th century BC. Two triangular-headed nails and two lamellar “Buckel” (domed bronze plates) made of Sn-bronze were available for material investigations. One of each was subjected to metallographic examinations. The triangular-headed nail’s bronze contains about 15 wt. %Sn. The dendritic cast structure and the eutectoid phase Cu41Sn11 are clearly visible. What is noticeable is that a Cu41Sn11 layer formed in some areas of the surface. The lamellar Buckel’s microstructure is recrystallized and exhibits only a few deformation twins. Its bronze contains about 13 wt. %Sn. Hence, only very little Cu41Sn11 is present. Elongated Cu2S precipitates indicate that the initial sheet was manufactured by fine forging.

Kurgans of Gazanbulag

This article presents the results of rescue archaeological excavations carried out in November 2015 — January 2016 (following the program of archaeological research in new building sites, within the framework of the South Caucasus Pipeline Expansion project) near the Gazanbulag River, in the Borsunli kurgan cemetery, and the samples of material culture of the ancient Azerbaijan population identified within the site. The surveyed area is located about one kilometer north from the village of Veyisli, on the right side of the highway leading to the district center — the city of Goranboy (Goranboy district, the Republic of Azerbaijan), at an altitude of 219 m.a.s.l. During the archaeological exploration work carried out in 2013, about 30 burial mounds were discovered on the territory of the Borsunlu “Camp” and near the Gazanbulag River. In 2015–2016, nine burial mounds were excavated at the “Camp” site. All these mounds had a covering consisting of medium and large stones. The space between the stone rows of mounds was filled with earth. Burial chambers were found in all of them except for kurgans 3 and 8. Despite the fact that mounds 7 and 9 had chambers and equipment, they did not contain human remains. In some mounds (Nos. 6, 7, 9) the burial chambers were located in the center of the mound covering, while in others (Nos. 1, 2, 4, and 5) on its slopes. In the burials, representative archaeological materials were revealed, which shed light on the study of religious beliefs, social status and life of ancient inhabitants of the analysed area of Azerbaijan. Samples of ceramic vessels found in the mounds are characteristic to the Khojaly-Gadabay archaeological culture in their shape and content. Apart from pottery, numerous bronze items of jewellery were found in the graves: bracelets, rings, earrings, diadems, flat buttons, headbands, beads. The discovered iron products are represented by knife blades and iron rod. It can be assumed that persons with a special high social status were interred in the Gazanbulag kurgan cemetery. Based on the type, structure, grave goods recovered, as well as the results of the radiocarbon analysis, the analysed burial mounds are mainly dated to the end of the Bronze Age and the begin-ning of the Early Iron Age, precisely to the 10th–9th c. BC.

Jewellery of Pastyrske Circle among Materials of Saltiv Culture: Data Analysis

In the paper, jewellery from sites and assemblages of the Saltiv culture, which do not chronologically fit within the boundaries of its existence, are considered. In the article the jewellery characteristic of the Pastyrske hillfort is analysed (group II, subgroup 2). It is represented by two burial complexes and two hoards. Sukha Homilsha cemetery 1 was investigated by V. K. Mikhiev. Burial no. 29 (fig. 1) contained a medallion pendant similar to finds from Pastyrske hoard of 1949 and a number of other assemblages from the second half of the 7th to the first half of the 8th centuries. Burial date: late 8th — early 9th centuries. Staryi Saltiv cemetery was investigated by V. H. Borodulin and V. K. Mikheev. In catacomb no. 21 (fig. 3) in a female burial was found anthropozoomorphic fibula — type VI-D according to O. M. Prykhodniuk or type II.1 according to V. Rodinkova. The date of the burial is debatable: V. S. Aksionov dates it within the boundaries of 750—770, while O. V. Komar believes that it belongs to the Middle Saltiv horizon II, that is, from 790s. Varvarivka hoard discovered in 2017. The complex includes: tools associated with metalworking, handicraft products for general purposes and for the processing of organic raw materials, household items. Bronze items are divided into three groups: armour details (?), raw materials and jewellery. A fibula, similar to the find from catacomb no. 21 of the Staryi Saltiv cemetery, belongs to the items of the Pastyrske circle. Khorosheve hoard discovered in 2021. The asssemblage includes: implement for working with metal, raw materials and weapons. The rest of the items are bronze jewellery, most of which belong to the Pastyrske circle: one earring and three fibulae. All the considered monuments of the Saltiv culture with finds of jewellery from Pastyrske hillfort are concentrated in the Siverskyi Donets basin. The main stage of their existence is defined within the chronological boundaries of the Pastyrske hillfort existence — the middle of the 7th — the middle of the 8th centuries. Two hoards of the Pastyrske circle are known in this region — Zaitsiv and Korobovi Khutory. Archaeological finds of fibulae and an earring of this circle were also revealed in this region. These data indicate that the Slavic population with significant cultural and trade ties with Pastyrske hillfort lived in the Siverskyi Donets basin during the second half of the 7th — the first half of the 8th centuries. The chronology of burial no. 29 of the Sukha Homilsha cemetery differs from the chronology of the existence of the round pendant by at least half a century (table 1). The chronology of the hoards from Varvarivka and Khorosheve is embedded in the general boundaries of the Saltiv culture existence: from 740—750 — the first decades of the 10th century. The chronology of the female burial from catacomb no. 21 of the Staryi Saltiv cemetery is debatable: 750—770 or from the 790s. An analysis of items belonging to the Pastyrske circle from the sites and assemblages of the Saltiv culture indicates that these adornments could have been reused. They do not necessarily indicate the contacts of the Slavic population with the inhabitants of the Khazar Khaganate.

Tools from the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age in Oltenia, between Practical and Symbolic use

"n this article, there are to be analysed two types of bronze tools: the sickles and the knives, dating from the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age. In Oltenia they are present both in isolated finds and especially in bronze hoards. The practical function of the sickles (harvesting grain, hay, etc.) was complemented by the cultic or the votive ones. The symbolism of the sickle is related to repetitive grain harvests, to the cycle of life and death, being the attribute of agricultural deities such as Saturn or Ceres. If they are part of the bronze hoards, the sickles had the same symbolic/votive charge as the other components of the deposit, and all the discussion about the cultic or votive character of the hoards, which we briefly resume in this material, also includes these pieces. Another category of bronze items that are to be analysed, is that of the knives. It ought to be noted that, in the present material, there are discussed only those that fall into the category of tools. Unlike sickles and axes, their number is smaller, most of which are found in dwellings or tombs. "

Structure № 18 of ‘Near Suburbs’ of Dykyi Sad Fortified Settlement

The purpose of the research paper is to characterize and determine the arrangement and constructional features of structure № 18 located within the territory of the ‘Near Suburbs’ of Dykyi Sad fortified settlement dated to the Final Bronze Age (12/13-12/11 centuries BCE).
 Scientific novelty. The constructional features of the walls of the structure’s stone foundations construction and the nature and structure of its utility pits filling are analyzed. Localization and description of specific material objects (pottery, bronze items, stone and horn produced items) found in the filling of the structure and pits are presented.
 Conclusions. It is found out that structure № 18, based on the constructional features of the construction, the nature, and filling of the pits, as well as the found artifacts, can be classified as residential, deepened construction. It was probably the house of a large family engaging in metalwork (stone and horn produced items and a trove of bronze items near the house). In terms of construction, the structure was a part of a single system of buildings of the ‘Near Suburbs’ of Dykyi Sad which followed the bend of the moat of the ‘Citadel’ (structures № 21, 13, 17, 18, 22, and found, but not studied structure № 23). The context of their location shows that the building system of this part of the fortified settlement had a radial-ring character. It formed the additional protection for the ‘Citadel’. This fact indicates the sustainability of the entire fortified settlement.
 Almost all the structures of the ‘Near Suburbs’, practically, are built according to the same principle and have similar characteristics – they are built at the same distance from the moat, deepened for more than one meter to the subsoil, and have strong stone foundations. Only structure № 17 with outbuildings on both sides is singled out (ground-based wattle and daub construction without stone foundations).
 Structure № 18 is typical for Dykyi Sad fortified settlement itself as well as for other settlements of the Western part of the Upper Black Sea region of the Final Bronze Age (post-Sabatynivka and early Bilozerka times).

ANTHROPOLOGICAL COMPOSITION OF THE POPULATION BILOZERSKA CULTURE’, BURIED ON THE BURIAL GROUND NEAR KAIRY VILLAGE

The anthropological material from the burial ground of the Bilozerska Culture near the village of Kairy on the left bank of the Lower Dnieper, came from 53 burials.
 The male group is characterized, on average, by a long, narrow, high, dolihocranial cranium. The forehead is wide, the angle of inclination of the frontal bone is average. The width and height of the face are average. According to the upper face index, it belongs to the mesen category. The face is mesognathous, its horizontal profiling is sharp. The orbits are medium wide and low, the nose is high. The bridge of the nose is high. The bones of the nose stand out well.
 The female series from the burial ground near the village of Kairy is characterized by a long, medium-wide, high, dolihocranial cranium. The forehead is medium wide, the angle of inclination of the frontal bone is on the border between medium and large values. The width and height of the face is average. According to the upper face index, it belongs to the category of mesen, but with a tendency to leptene. The horizontal profiling of the face is sharp. The total facial angle indicates mesognathia. The orbits are medium wide and low in absolute size, they are mesoconch according to the orbital index. The height of the nose is on the border between medium and high, it is medium wide both in absolute dimensions and in terms of the nasal index. The bridge of the nose is high. The nasal bones protrude moderately.
 The introduction into the scientific circulation of preliminary information about the anthropological material from the Belozersky Culture’s burial site of Kairy well illustrates the heterogeneity of the population.
 The male and female groups from Kairy show morphological and statistical similarity to the population from the burial ground of the Bilozerska Culture near the village of Shyroke. The men’s series from Kairy shows a closeness to the collective series of Zrubna Culture of Ukraine (Left Bank). This may indicate in favor of the fact that men from this population were dominated by a biological component that could well connect them with the earlier population of the territory of Ukraine. Women’s groups from Kairy and Shiroke demonstrate a significant statistical difference from women of the Zrubna and Babinska Cultures.
 Male and female parts of the population were formed from slightly different components. One of them was associated with Zrubna Culture’s groups in Ukraine. The other component may have come from a culture that is not represented by craniological material, but whose population was morphologically close to a number of the European groups of Bronze Age: Łużycka, Unetice, and certain groups of the circle of the Corded Ware Culture.
 At the cemetery, a correlation was observed between the placement of skeletons in the grave on the right or left sides with the gender of the buried. 19 female skeletons were lying in a crouched position on their left side and facing west, and 2 women were in a crouched position on their right side facing east. 15 male skeletons were buried in a crouched position on the right side facing east, and 5 on the left side facing west. In the Kairy cemetery, children from the age of 1 were also buried in positions on different sides. The position of the dead facing east or west may reflect the idea of the different location of their forefathers homeland.
 Female burials contain more grave goods. Most of the bronze items are the decorations, which are concentrated in half of women’s burials and a third of children’s burials. The highest concentration of pots is also recorded in the graves of women, besides, the pots from women’s burials are more diverse in shape. In children’s graves, the number of pots varies from 1 to 3, in the burials of children of the first year of life there are no vessels.

A complex case of trade in metals: The origin of copper used for artefacts found in one hoard from a Late Bronze Age Lusatian Urnfield Culture in Poland

Metal artefacts from Bronze Age hoards have routinely been used to study interregional contacts. Their stylistic and typological features helped distinguish local products and imports by appearance. In the last 40 years, combined lead isotope and chemical analyses of metals have been widely applied to verify hypotheses based on style and typology. This paper is a comprehensive typological and analytical study of a metal item hoard discovered in Paszowice, SW Poland. In the Bronze Age, the area was inhabited by the Lusatian Urnfield culture (ca. 1350/1300–800/750 BC) communities. We expected that at least some of the artefacts would be local products fashioned according to foreign stylistic patterns. The research aimed to determine whether a ‘classical’ stylistic analysis combined with provenance studies of metals would allow more decisive conclusions. This combination of methods could also show how the metal reached the Lusatian Urnfield culture settlement zone. We conducted a detailed typological and chronological analysis to map the distribution of similar artefact types. It demonstrated that stylistic matches for the artefacts from Paszowice occur mainly in NE Hungary, S Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Romania. Selected metal artefacts (both tin bronze items and raw copper objects) from Paszowice were also analysed for their chemical (EPMA) and lead isotope (MC ICP MS) compositions. The study revealed many copper sources used for their production, ranging from the nearest copper mines in the Slovak Ore Mountains, through Eastern Alps and mines in Sardinia, to possibly the Iberian Peninsula. In this way, we identified the potential trade routes by which metal could get to SW Poland: the southwestern and southeastern routes and the Mediterranean-Danube route. The Iberian metal might have also reached the study area from the north – through its redistribution by Scandinavian traders. Our results show that metal from many sources circulated in central Europe during the Late Bronze Age. The Lusatian Urnfield communities were part of a pan-European exchange network and maintained extensive long-distance contacts, allowing metal acquisition from various sources.

Deposition of Base Ore and Alloy Elements in the Bronze Age Metal in the Trans-Urals

The paper studies the problems of the geochemical specialization of the Bronze Age metal items from the eastern flank of the Ural mining and metallurgical province produced at the end of the third millennium BC — the middle of the second millennium BC in the Abashevo, Sintashta, Koptyakov-Seimino and the Alakul centers. The metal geochemical markers determination was performed by means of a local quantitative chemical composition analysis of 101 solid samples with an electron X-ray microanalyzer. The selection consisted of a representative series of copper and bronze items corresponding to various stages of metallurgical conversion process from the classic archaeological sites of the Trans-Urals. Systematization of the analytical data on the chemistry of items from each metal production center made it possible to identify stable compositions of micro-impurities associated with the base ores and alloys. The Abashevo and the Sintashta culture metal demonstrated a stable correlation of excess arsenic and nickel concentrations, which was partly due to the use of the Trans-Urals ores with a high content of these elements, however, the most significant concentration of arsenic (from 2 to 5 %) was observed in the finished items rather than in refined copper ingots or semi-finished products, which may indicate intentional alloying. Tin alloys in the Sintashta culture were quite rare; they demonstrated the same chemistry as the Seimin-Turbino metallurgical traditions. Large-scale use of tin for refined copper alloying was observed only in the Koptyakov-Seimino and the Alakul series. The Alakul series contained some high-tin alloying compositions close to the ideal tin bronzes (18 % Sn). It is possible that the sources of tin for them were the Kazakhstan and the Central Asia deposits. The only impurity integrating the entire ancient metal series, according to microprobe analysis, was sulfur, due to the sulfide feed stock. Sulfur was deposited in blister from the high-copper (above 20 % Cu) sulfide-silica-carbonate mineral blends that met the Bronze Age metal production criteria. The sources of raw materials were associated with the secondary sulfides of the ophiolite deposits hypergenesis zones in the Trans-Urals.

Случайные находки эпохи ранних кочевников из Кунашакского и Красноармейского районов Челябинской области

People of several aboriginal archaeological cultures populated the northern part of the foreststeppe zone of the Southern Trans-Urals in the Early Iron Age. Several accidental archaeological finds of bronze items come from this region. They are featured with the traditional animal style of the early nomads of Eurasia. A plaque depicts a predator crouching to the ground with the head of a ram in its mouth grabbing the muzzle. The plaque was found on a plowed field in the Karpino tract. It renders the scene of herbivore being tormented by a predator. This sort of image is popular in the Scytho-Siberian animal style. Another two bronze plaques were found on the top of the hill, Mount Sovinaya. The plaques refer to an elk’s head and face. Both plaques depict the head of a male elk with large antlers and protruding ears. It should be noted that the elk’s head on the plaques is not proportioned. It is shorter and wider unlike real animal and more reminiscent of the head of a bull or a cow. There are two longitudinal loops on the reverse side of the plaques. The plaques from Mount Sovinaya are completely original and have no equivalents among the monuments of the Scythian-Siberian animal style. It should be noted there is no image of an elk in the art of the nomads of the Lower Volga region and the Southern Urals. The presented plaques from accidental finds characterize the original art of the Trans-Ural forest-steppe tribes. According to the author, this art developed under the direct influence of the art of the nomads of the Eurasia steppe zone. On the contrary, a figurine of a stylized bird (“bird-shaped idol”) found near Lake Saygerly is one of the most striking categories of inventory of the Itkul archaeological culture.

Metal of the "Cimmerian elite" of the North Caucasus ( on the materials of tomb 3 of the Terese burial ground)

The article publishes the results of a study of bronze items from tomb 3 of the Terese burial ground (Central North Caucasus, Karachay-Cherkessia), one of the richest burials of the Koban culture of the Central North Caucasus during the Cimmerian campaigns in Transcaucasia and Western Asia.A typological analysis of the bridle accessories of a number of imported metal items from this complex shows that the burial belongs to a war-horseman of the late 8th centuryBC, who participated in military campaigns in Transcaucasia. ED XRF analysis reveals the main alloy groups used for production of the bridle and harness attachments from the Terese tomb 3 (26 samples) and Fars burial ground (2 samples). Tin bronzes and lead-tin bronzes with low, middle, and high tin concentration and a relatively low lead content clearly dominated the Terese selection. Lost wax casting into investment clay moulds was the main manufacturing technique. The Pb-isotope data of 23 samples obtained by MC-ICP-MS reveals the different sources of copper and lead as well as the recycling of scrap metal. Polymetallic ores of the Sadonsky ore field, located in North Ossetia was considered as one of the possible ore sources. Within the framework of the studied samples, arsenic bronze was recorded only as part of the inlay of two pins, originating from the Central Georgia which were probably made to order by a highly qualified Transcaucasian jeweller.

«Կումայրի» պատմամշակութային արգելոց-թագարանում պահպանվող Շիրակավանի պատահական գտածոների շուրջ

The work presents random findings from the village of Shirakavan, Shirak Marz. Chance findings were discovered during the construction work that was carried out in the village of Shirakavan in the late 1980s - early 1990s. The collection consists of bronze items - a bronze bowl and two types of bronze standards-pendants. Bronze standards date back to the beginning of the 1st millennium-9th-8th centuries BC, and a bronze bowl -XII-X centuries BC.

경주 탑동 목관묘 출토 청동기로 본 대외관계와 피장자의 성격

The wooden coffin tombs at Tap-dong are the first tombs of outstanding elites to have ever found in downtown Gyeongju, the capital of Silla. This is also where Oreung(五陵) - the tomb of Park Hyeokgeose, who is the founding monarch of Silla - is located. The Tap-dong burial sites consist of 3 wooden coffin tombs dated in different periods, numbered 1 - 3, respectively.
 There are hints from the digs at the Tap-dong site that: 1. the kind of wooden coffin tomb appeared around 57 BCE, exactly at the same time when Silla started off as a small city-state by the name of Saro-guk.
 2. the bronze and iron artifacts and other ornaments from this site suggest that the ruling class of Saro-guk was the association of native Jin people and displaced people whose expansionist attitudes served militarily and socio-economically as intermediators between China and northern peoples and Silla, and even further Japan.
 3. all of these findings could be archaeological evidence that the earlier historical records of the origin of Silla in Samguk Sagi proves plausible.
 The three tombs at the Tap-dong site were built in three differentiated periods and occupied by three differentiated owners in terms of social status, but they all represented early phases of the emergence of a centralized monarchy at the heart of the capital of Silla, not in the neighboring place. The tombs were numbered 1 - 3 as they were found, and yet Tomb No. 3 is the oldest of the three, followed by Tomb No. 2. and Tomb No. 1 backwards chronologically.
 Tomb No. 3 produced no distinguished prestige goods of bronze except some earthenware, by the chronological dating of which this tomb is presumed to have been built around 57 BCE. It marks the beginning of the construction of wooden coffin tombs in this area.
 Tomb No. 2 can be thought of a prelude to a new political entity of Gyeongju beginning its journey to the Unified Kingdom. It is the first of a series of tombs where the Chinese bronze mirrors were deposited by those who ruled downtown Gyeongju in the late 1st century AD, about the same time as Tomb No. 38 at Joyang-dong, Gyeongju. Tomb No. 38 at Joyang-dong, however, produced 4 Chinese bronze mirrors and a fragment of a reprocessed Chinese bronze mirror, which means that the deceased as a stronger manager who boasted his financial power capable of possessing valued items, such as Chinese bronze mirrors, was competing against the Tap-dong tomb owner nearby, about 8 km or only a 2-hour walk apart in Gyeongju at the time.
 The finds from Tomb No. 1 at Tap-dong can be interpreted that at least two groups of separate interests had a rational division of function along the supply chain of iron artifacts in present-day Gyeongju around the mid 1st century AD: One was in charge of producing ironwork and the other was responsible for trading them, organizing guild-like professional associations; The first group consisted of people who were able to bury their leader with a good number of highly valued iron artworks in his grave. On the other hand, the second group consisted of people who boasted their prestige and authority by placing multiple decorative bronze items, such as swords, buckles, buttons, and bracelets, in their leader’s burial. Sarari people as locals would have settled down here in Gyeongju from the beginning of the Bronze age and been familiar with dealing with iron. Alternately, Tap-dong people could be the displaced refugees who had fled from the Northern part of Korea after the fall of Wiman Joseon. That’s why they could have been flashily dressed like one of them and engaged in foreign trade with Northern nomadic people.

Tarkhansky Ostrog of the 17th−18th centuries: a study based on the materials of geophysical and archaeological research of 2020−2021

The paper is aimed to introduce into scientific discourse materials of the research of 2020–2021 which con-firm the earlier conjecture on the location of the Tarkhansky Ostrog as on the butte at the confluence of the Tobol and Tap Rivers. The results of the geophysical surveys and excavations on the area of 168 sqm provided conclu-sive evidence towards the correctness of the preliminary argument on the location of the Ostrog and attribution of the materials of the early modern period to one of the first fortresses of the end of the 16th — beginning of the 17th centuries in the Lower Tobol River area. Uncovered remains of a palisade ditch and a wall, alongside the geomagnetic data and written sources, allow estimation of the shape and size of the burgh. Apparently, it had a subrectangular area of 1400 to 2000 sqm. The discovery of the palisade ditch provided the opportunity to render the location of the outpost and position of the turrets (“the fortress with a wooden palisade and two turrets”) at the western wall of the burgh which defended the less sloped, thus underprotected, as compared to the opposite, edge of the butte. The cutting by the palisade ditch of the remains of a thermal engineering structure with Russian ware in the filling and a series of bronze decorations shows that the chronology of the butte occupations and its stratigraphy, even within the Russian period, were significantly more complex than it appeared on the basis of only the written sources. A series of posts, probably belonging to the fence (wall?), with some of the associated pits disturbed by the palisade ditch and thermal engineering structure, belong to an object of an earlier period. It is not implausible that the remains of the fence-wall belong to the Tatar’s settlement of Tarkhan-Kala, whose loca-tion was associated by G.F. Miller with the Russian burgh positioned not far from the estuary of the Tura River, on the south-eastern side of the Tobol River. A representative pottery complex, comprising the fragments of at least 156 vessels, likely of the local produce, alongside the shards of Chinese porcelain ware, was unearthed in the excavation ditch of 2021. Some shards of glassware were found. Among the iron tools, noteworthy are a spade-iron, broken knives, a key, an arrowhead, hinges, a bracer, fishhooks, stab awls, sewing needles, and nails of various sizes. Of the bronze items, notable are a chest handle, an onlay, bronze decorations, lead bullets, and coins. Clay fishing weights and honing stones, alongside the aforementioned items, shed light on the occupations of the burgh residents. The complex of the obtained data allows conclusion on the viability of further investigation of the outpost: its layout and lifestyle, and material culture of its inhabitants during the period from the 17th to the middle of the 18th century.

Химический состав металла медных и бронзовых наконечников стрел могильника Кичигино I

This study concerns 580 bronze arrowheads from five burials of the Kichigino I cemetery (southern Trans-Urals), dated from the second half of the sixth to the second half of the fourth centuries BC. The main component in all arrowheads was copper with admixtures of arsenic, antimony, lead, tin and nickel. The research revealed that the Early nomads’ non-ferrous metal sources changed approximately in the middle of the fourth century BC. Initially, almost all metal came from Itkul metallurgy and metalworking center located in the southern Trans-Urals forest-steppe area. Pure copper without addition as well as alloys with additive of arsenic, occasionally with arsenic and antimony were overwhelmingly applied. In the next period, there are plenty of arrowheads made of copper alloys containing lead as a component; its sources are located to the southwest and west of the Trans-Urals. The transition to new metal sources was caused on the one hand by massive migrations of the Trans-Ural steppe nomadic population to the southern Cis-Urals, on the other, by gradual decline of the Itkul center of metallurgy during the fourth century BC and by the complete reserve depletion in the third century BC. Reuse of tin-alloyed bronze items from earlier times was caused by lack of the non-ferrous metal supplied by the Itkul metallurgists. Furthermore, results of metals analysis indicate that there is no relationship between the shape of the arrowheads and the composition of the metal in them. Arrowheads of the same shape could be made of different metal composition, and, by contrast, arrowheads of different shapes were made from the same metal.

Late Bronze and Pre-Roman Iron Age Bronze Rings – Jewellery or Ingots?

Among the bronze items dating to Latvia’s Late Bronze Age (1100–500 BC) and the Pre-Roman Iron Age (500–1 BC) there are rings with open ends that resemble bracelets or necklaces by size. The number of bronze rings and their fragments is not large – 57 units, but that of fragments of casting moulds is much higher – 856. The article deals with the data of both these rings and the respective castings. The main focus is on the problem of the function of these rings: whether they were ingots or jewellery. The author argues that, although bronze rings were used as jewellery, it was probably not their only or even their main function. Bronze rings were used for more convenient storing and transporting of metal, but also as a value equivalent in exchange operations.

Клад фрагментированных изделий эпохи поздней бронзы у с. Рэзень

In 2020, the National Museum of the History of Moldova received a hoard of bronze items, presumably found in a forest near the Răzeni village, Ialoveni district of the Republic of Moldova. The main feature of the Răzeni hoard is the deliberate fragmentation of all items, without exception, by hand, without the help of special tools. Judging by the characteristics of the fragments, it is unlikely that the task of the master was to obtain fragments of a certain mass or size. Therefore, if we exclude the pragmatic interpretation of the Răzeni hoard (as a collection of bronze scrap), we can assume that we are dealing with some kind of social practice of deliberate fragmentation, “mortification” of the object, followed by hiding in the ground. Taking into account the composition of the hoard, the presence of a sickle of the Heleşteni type, a significant number of fragments of sickles of the Ghermăneşti and Ruginoasa variants, characteristic of the early Noua, the most probable intervals for collecting hoard items seem to be the BrD period. At the same time, the presence in the hoard of sickles of the Ilişeni variant, as well as a socketed axe of the Middle Danubian type, the upper date can be raised to HaA1, which is not contradicted by the presence of a sickle, presumably of the Dičevo type of the late BrD — the early HaA1. Apparently, it is this dating that is the most probable for the time of fragmentation of the items and their further deposition.

Chinese Paintings from Western Museum Collections at the International Exhibition of Chinese Art in London, 1935: On the History of Collecting and Attributing Chinese Paintings

The International Exhibition of Chinese Art that took place in London’s Burlington House from November 1935 to March 1936 is recognised as the major exhibition of ancient and classical Chinese art of the twentieth century. Over two hundred collectors and institutions from 14 countries provided their objects of art to the exhibition. None of the previous exhibitions had had as many items: the number of objects was extraordinary with 3,080 entries in the catalogue of the London exhibition. Moreover, it was the first foreign exhibition presenting items from the former imperial collection of the Forbidden City (Gugun Museum since 1925). In addition to numerous porcelain and bronze items from private and museum collections, the exhibition contained about 300 paintings (monumental painting, scrolls, album sheets, and fans). While it is generally believed that western collectors only started being seriously interested in painting after World War II, the exhibition contained over a hundred paintings of non-Chinese provenance. Due to its scale, the International Exhibition of Chinese Art of 1935 could be considered a representative example of trends in the Chinese art collecting of the 1930s. For this reason, a close analysis of the catalogue may help enrich our idea of the formation of collections of Chinese art, the formation of taste, and its evolution over time. Data related to the paintings from the catalogue are analysed and then compared to the current descriptions from museum databases and catalogues.

ПРЕДВАРИТЕЛЬНЫЕ РЕЗУЛЬТАТЫ РАСКОПОК НА КУРГАННОМ МОГИЛЬНИКЕ ШЕЛОМОК-I

The article considers the result of the Shelomok I Burial mound excavations conducted in 2017-2019. Initially, the burial ground was considered to be a kurgan, however, in the western periphery of the burial ground, eight ground burials were investigated, made according to the rite of inhumation, stretched out on the back. The orientation of the buried has a stable direction to the southwest and west. Despite the fact that most of the burials were robbed, a significant number of finds were found, including a large amount of paleofaunal material. According to the totality of artifacts found, including ceramics, weapons, bone items, bronze items made in the Scythian-Siberian animal style and horse harness items, the burial mound Shelomok-I is tentatively dated to the turn of the 5th / 4th-3rd centuries BC.

Siekierka brązowa z Falejówki

The article is devoted to the find of a bronze socketed axe discovered in 2013 in Falejówka (Sanok district). The find was made on the top of Mount Wroczeń, several meters from the hoard of bronze items (Falejówka, hoard II), dated to HaA1. This artefact belongs to the so-called “beaked” or “horned” axes, but none of the numerous specimens of this type is an exact equivalent of the discussed find. Stylistic features – primarily the characteristic trident motif decorating it, which occurs on axes discovered mainly in today's Hungary – allow the item from Falejówka to be dated HaA1-HaB1. The quality of the casting proves that the axe was made with good knowledge of the mould technology and the processes of smelting and pouring the liquid alloy, using bronze with a low tin content. As for its composition, metals derived from sulphide ores, mainly antimony, have also been identified.

New complexes with horse harnesses of the beginning of the early Iron Age from the Middle Dnister region

For the first time, a preliminary report on the chariot harness complex from the village of Ustya in Western Podillya and two sets of metal parts of horse harness of similar purpose, but earlier, from Sokyryany and Vasylivka in Northern Bukovyna. It is noted that the uniqueness of the finds from Ustya is that all 20 metal objects related to the chariot transport are covered with yellow metal foil on the front side, which was not previously known on sites of this type. Taking into account the similarity of items from Ustya to the metal elements of chariots from the Caucasus (bridle set with psaliyas such as Jabotyn 524 from the barrow 1 of the Hajoh cemetery) and the Middle Dnipro (burials in Olshana and Butenky), it is suggested that some elements of the elite culture of this time related with the Central and Eastern European circle of cultures of Novocherkassk period. It was found that the complex of bronze items of horse harness from Vasylivka, which included 11 artifacts, is one of the few that record the appearance of patterns of animal-style at such an early time and direct parallels to a large lunica-shaped sewn-in plate with well pronounced and finely modeled head of an animal with two raised ears and face with clearly marked eyes and closed mouth, still unknown. It has been suggested that the oval rings from the complexes of Sokyryany and Vasylivka performed approximately the same function in the chariot harness as the later bronze rings with movable suspensions from the recently discovered complex in Ustya. It is concluded that with the beginning of the HaC2 period, a new population with a socially stratified structure, including the horse aristocracy, wheeled transport, etc., which was probably not related to the local background, moved into the western part of the Middle Dnister region. Key words: Early Iron Age, horse harness, chariot harness, Western Podillya, Middle Dnister region.