Pages: 69-84 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp2126984
The article addresses organization of Late Bronze Age mining in the Southern Trans-Urals, in particular the degrees of its specialization and the scale of exchange operations. The main object is bone remains from the cultural layer of the II millennium BC of the Novotemirsky mine. The species and age composition of domestic animals are similar to the settlement materials of the Sintashta, Srubnaya-Alakul, and Sargary-Alekseevo settlements of the region. Comparison of 87 Sr/86 Sr variations in local bioavailable strontium baseline proxies and archaeological samples has indicated that the range of cattle grazing was located mainly within the immediate vicinity of the Novotemirsky mine. The results suggest that the mining organization model implemented at the Novotemirsky mine was similar to the Alakul culture of the Ural-Mugodzhary mining and metallurgical center and was characterized by the absence of specialized miner settlements, and the participation of the population of nearby villages in labor and meals organization at the mines, as well as by the poor development of trade and exchange operations.
Keywords: Southern Trans-Urals, Late Bronze Age, copper metallurgy, ancient mine, strontium isotopes, osteology, Alakul culture
Information about authors:
Polina Ankusheva (Chelyabinsk, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. South Ural State University. Lenin Ave., 76, Chelyabinsk, 454080, Russian Federation; Institute of Mineralogy, South Urals Federal Research Center of Mineralogy and Geoecology of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Ilmensky reserve, Miass, 456317, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Daria Kiseleva (Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Geology and Mineralogy. South Ural State University. Lenin Ave., 76, Chelyabinsk, 454080, Russian Federation; A. N. Zavaritsky Institute of Geology and Geochemistry, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Acad. Vonsovski St., 15, Yekaterinburg, 620016, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Olga Bachura (Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Biological Sciences. Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 8th March St., 202, Yekaterinburg, 620144, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Irina Alaeva (Chelyabinsk, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. South Ural State Humanitarian-Pedagogical University. Lenin Ave., 69, Chelyabinsk, 454080, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Maksim Ankushev (Chelyabinsk, Russian Federation). Candidate of Geology and Mineralogy. South Ural State University. Lenin Ave., 76, Chelyabinsk, 454080, Russian Federation; Institute of Mineralogy, South Urals Federal Research Center of Mineralogy and Geoecology of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Ilmensky reserve, Miass, 456317, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russian Federation
Email: [email protected]
Tatiana Okuneva (Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation). A. N. Zavaritsky Institute of Geology and Geochemistry, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Acad. Vonsovski St., 15, Yekaterinburg, 620016, Russian Federation
Email: [email protected]