Pages: 237-250

The article is devoted to the chronological and cultural features of the appearance of iron metallurgy in the taiga of the Ob-Irtysh River Region. The earliest evidence of ironmaking in the Irtysh Region dates back to the 7th—5th centuries BC. It is associated with the development of the Itkul metallurgical Centre. The oldest iron smelting sites in the Ob River Region are discovered on the fortification-sanctuary Ust-Polui and date back to the turn of the eras. Today only five iron smelting sites of the Early Iron Age in the taiga of the Ob-Irtysh River Region are known. No large iron smelting centers in this region emerged in the early Middle Ages, and local ores were not developed. The only exception is the Kondinsky ore and metallurgical complex in the Lower Irtysh Region. The smithing technologies in the second half of the I millennium AD were spread widely on the whole territory of the Ob-Irtysh Region. Most likely, during this period, iron was imported to taiga zones in the form of blooms. The first large ironmaking centres are formed in the Ob-Irtysh River Region only at the turn of the I—II millennium AD. They were associated with the movement of high-tech medieval cultures from the steppe.

Keywords: Western Siberia, Ob-Irtysh River Region, taiga zone, Iron Age, Middle Ages, iron smelting and smithing technologies

Information about authors:

Evgeny Vodyasov (Tomsk, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Tomsk State University. Lenin Ave., 36, Tomsk, 634050, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Olga Zaitceva (Tomsk, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Tomsk State University. Lenin Ave., 36, Tomsk, 634050, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]