NEWLY DISCOVERED BRONZE ARTIFACTS OF THE SCYTHIAN PERIOD FROM ARCHEKAS MOUNTAIN, KUZNETSK ALATAU

• Published in: Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia
• Main Authors: V. V. Bobrov, L. Y. Bobrova, В. В. Бобров, Л. Ю. Боброва
• Other Authors: Грант РНФ, проект № 14-50-00036
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Russian; English
• Published: IAET SB RAS 2017
• Subjects: зона контакта; Early Iron Age; daggers; cauldrons; arrowheads; Tagar culture; Kulai culture; Scytho-Siberian animal style; котел; тагарская культура; кулайская культура; скифо-сибирский мир; taiga; Тагарская культура
• Online Access: https://journal.archaeology.nsc.ru/jour/article/view/270; https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2017.45.2.078-086

The borderland between the West Siberian Plain and the Kuznetsk-Salair mountain ridge is a narrow strip of the Mariinsk forest-steppe, which was a transit and contact area between two ancient cultural centers: one on the Upper Ob and the other on the Middle Yenisei. Archaeological finds from that area are especially interesting. One of important geographic features of the Mariinsk forest-steppe is Archekas mountain. About a dozen archaeological sites on this mountain date mostly to the Bronze and Early Iron Ages. In October 2015, several bronze items were found there: a cauldron, four arrow points, a “mirror”, a deer figurine, and a dagger, whose handle is decorated in the Scytho-Siberian style. All items are cast of stannic bronze; a small amount of arsenic is also present in certain cases. The article describes the context and the location of the find, the items, and their cultural affinities. Despite the generally Scythian appearance of all the artifacts and the wide distribution area of their parallels, we demonstrate that the assemblage belongs to the Tagar culture and, by the Tagar standards, should date to 600–400 BC. However, the artifacts resemble those manufactured in the forest-steppe periphery and were probably custom-made for the Kulai people of the taiga zone. If so, the date must be younger and fall within the 400–200 BC interval. The analysis of assemblages with cauldrons allowed us to assume that the Archekas assemblage was ritual, associated with a sanctuary. Пограничная зона между Западно-Сибирской низменностью и Кузнецко-Салаирской горной областью представляет собой узкую полосу лесостепи, которая в древности была транзитной территорией и зоной контакта народов двух крупных центров развития археологических культур – верхнеобского и среднеенисейского. Данные обстоятельства вызывают интерес к археологическим материалам из пограничных районов. Одной из физико-географических особенностей этой лесостепи, чаще называемой Мариинской, является гора Арчекас. С ней связано ок. 10 археологических ...