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Exotic Cotton Textile of the Bronze Age from the Southern Trans-Urals

  • METHODS OF NATURAL SCIENCES IN THE STUDY OF CULTURAL HERITAGE OBJECTS
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Abstract—

An analysis of a fragment of Bronze Age textile found at the settlement of Kamenny Ambar in the South Urals is performed. Technological analysis makes it possible to establish that the textile was made from raw cotton, and the results of radiocarbon dating attributed it to the beginning of the II millennium BC. A comparative analysis of the textile fragment and the broad archaeological context of the early finds of ancient cotton fabrics suggests that the fabric could have been made in Pakistan or India and came to the South Urals along with migrants.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to N.A. Berseneva for impeccable documentation during the excavation of wells and burials, as well as for ensuring the safety of the textile material, as well as to A. Mamonova for additional analysis of the cotton fibers.

Funding

The study of cotton textiles, radiocarbon dating, and interpretation of the results were supported by the Russian Science Foundation (grant no. 21-18-00026). The study of wells, burials of the Sintashta culture, interpretation of data were carried out on the topic “Ancient and medieval cultures of the Urals: regional features in the context of global processes” (state registration no. 121102500121-8).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Historical Museum, Moscow, Russia

    N. I. Shishlina

  2. Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (the Kunstkamera), St. Petersburg, Russia

    N. I. Shishlina

  3. Institute of History and Archaeology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Yekaterinburg, Russia

    L. N. Koryakova

  4. Center of Egyptological Investigation, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    O. V. Orfinskaya

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  1. N. I. Shishlina
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Correspondence to N. I. Shishlina.

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Translated by A. Bulaev

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Shishlina, N.I., Koryakova, L.N. & Orfinskaya, O.V. Exotic Cotton Textile of the Bronze Age from the Southern Trans-Urals. Nanotechnol Russia 17, 691–700 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S2635167622050159

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