Pages: 103-116

This study aimed to identify the technological and cultural traditions of the peoples of Central Kazakhstan and the northern zone of the Eurasian Steppe during the beginning of the late Bronze Age. The Taldysai settlement is a large and well-studied center for processing metal ore into rough and refined metal commodities. The settlement is located in the Zhezkazgan-Ulytau mining region of Kazakhstan mining and metallurgical region. The smelting facilities at the site are similar to the kinds of furnaces used for the redistribution of oxidized ores in different regions of Northern Eurasia. However, the metallurgists of Saryarka worked in different environmental conditions, and not only with oxidized minerals but also with sulfide ore. They modified the melting units, allowing for the injection and circulation of natural air. This technical and morphological analysis suggests that there were broad connections between the Taldysai Nurtai and the Trans-Urals Petrovka metal-working complexes, while the specific foundry-forge technology of two-blade knives demonstrates the connection with the archaic traditions of the Circumpontian metallurgical province. The key contribution of Trans-Ural migrants to the development of metallurgical tradition in West Asia is determined by the analysis of raw materials, products, and organizational and technical conditions of metal production.

Keywords: West Asian Metallurgical Province, Kazakhstan Mining and Metallurgical Region, Zhezkazgan-Ulytau Mining and Metallurgical Center, Late Bronze Age, Taldysai, metalwork, heat engineering facilities

Information about authors:

Antonina Yermolayeva (Almaty, Kazakhstan). Institute of Archeology named after A. Kh. Margulan. Dostyk Ave., 44, Almaty, 050010, Kazakhstan.
E-mail: [email protected]
Sergei Kuzminykh (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dmitry Ulyanov St., 19, Moscow, 117292, Russian Federation.
E-mail: [email protected]
Yekaterina Dubyagina (Almaty, Kazakhstan). Master of Humanities (Archaeology and Ethnology). Institute of Archeology named after A. Kh. Margulan. Dostyk Ave., 44, Almaty, 050010, Kazakhstan.
E-mail: [email protected]