Abstract
This paper presents the results of a study of bronze items from the Ashchisu burial ground of the Early Alakul (Petrovka) culture. The Ashchisu burial ground is located in Central Kazakhstan. The chemical composition of the patinated surfaces of the artifacts was determined by X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF). Some items were studied for the first time, and the presented results are original. Most often, pure copper was used in the product manufacture. The amounts of Sn and Zn impurities were recorded less frequently. Other components (e.g., Pb or As) are presented as alloys. Ancient metallurgists realized the differences between the properties of various copper alloys. Stabbing items and weapons contained high concentrations of Sn. To manufacture other products – tools and metal vessel – pure copper was used. Tin bronzes were valued for their color and technological properties and used to make jewelry, such as bracelets and beads.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to Aleksandr D. Tairov for his help. The typological research was performed by the Kazakhstan part of the team with the support of grant AR09260879 “Research of markers of social ranking of the Bronze Age societies of Saryarka according to funeral rites”, the chemical research was funded by RFBR and INSF, project number 20-59-56007.
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Blinov, I.A., Kukushkin, I.A., Bedelbayeva, M.V., Ankusheva, N.N. (2023). Composition of Copper and Bronze Items from the Ashchisu Burial Ground. In: Ankusheva, N., Chechushkov, I.V., Epimakhov, A., Ankushev, M., Ankusheva, P. (eds) Geoarchaeology and Archaeological Mineralogy. GAM 2022. Springer Proceedings in Earth and Environmental Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-46424-9_24
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