The metallurgy of the bronze age artifacts from the Shaitanska site (north of Ekaterinburg) of the Sejmo-Turbino type in Eurasia

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Rüdiger Krause
• Subject Area: Prehistory and World Archaeology
• Term: from 2014 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 260480707

In Eurasia are found in the forest zone between Finland and the Altai mountains over a wide geographical area from around 2000 BC and in the first half of the 2nd millennium artifacts of the type Sejma-Turbino, which are typologically the same. They have like the Tüllenbeile (soket axes) a surprisingly advanced typological development. Since 2004, east of the Urals, a new site on the Shajtanska Lake (Ozero II) is getting known, where more than 130 metal artifacts were excavated from the type Sejma-Turbino. Our research in the Trans-Urals in the area of the fortified settlements of the Sintashta culture have shown first geochemical analyzes of artifacts and ores. In this application 50 selected artifacts and 10 ore samples shall be analyzed geochemically. It is the aim to get a first large series of data from Sejma-Turbino artefacts. The data shall be the basis for comparison with the southern Trans-Urals and in collaboration with the research group led by Thomas Stöllner from Bochum, the new data should be evaluated and compared together with the many ore and artifact analysis from Kazakhstan. It is an important goal to get first basic data and information on the isotopic character of the ore deposits, on the distribution and on the networks of the metal distribution in these large spaces between Ural and Altai. A second objective is the question of the beginning of tin alloys in relation to arsenic alloys. Last to be studied based on the lead isotope data, is the extent to which the starting material of the artifacts of the type Sejma-Turbino can be attributed to different regional ore sources and if statements can be obtained on the mechanism of spread of this artifact group.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants