Abstract
The Southern Urals in the 4th-2nd millennium BC was a key mining and metallurgical region of Eurasia with hundreds of copper deposits and thousands of ore occurrences developed from the beginning of the Bronze Age to the Iron Age, where three major (the Trans-Urals, Cis-Urals, and Ural-Mugodzhary) mining and metallurgical centers were located. Lead isotope ratios are used in archaeology to identify raw materials for the production of metal in antiquity. The lead isotope composition does not change during metallurgical processes and remains constant regardless of the ore roasting temperature or Red-Ox conditions of smelting this work aims to identify the potential sources of ore raw materials for the production of many copper artifacts of the steppe Cis-Urals and Trans-Urals of the Bronze Age by multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) lead isotope analysis. The results of lead isotope analysis made it possible to obtain new data for many copper artifacts (products and ingots) of various periods of the Bronze Age (4th-2nd millennia BC). The detected variations in lead isotopes indicate a rather clear connection between copper artifacts and the original ores of the Trans-Urals or Cis-Urals.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ankushev, M.N.: Mineralogiya i istochniki syr'ya drevnikh metallurgicheskikh shlakov Yuzhnogo Urala (Mineralogy and sources of raw materials for ancient metallurgical slags of the Southern Urals). Metallogeniya drevnikh i sovremennykh okeanov (Metallogeny of ancient and modern oceans) 1, 270–274 (2019) (In Russian)
Artemyev, D.A., Ankushev, M.N.: Trace Elements of Cu-(Fe)-Sulfide Inclusions in Bronze Age Copper Slags from South Urals and Kazakhstan: Ore Sources and Alloying Additions. Minerals 9, 746 (2019)
Bogdanov, S.V.: Epokha medi stepnogo Priural'ya (Copper epoch of the steppe Cis-Urals). 285 p. UrO RAN, Ekaterinburg (2004) (In Russian)
Bogdanov, S.V.: Sistematika kompleksov drevneyamnoi kul'tury vostoka Ponto-Kaspiiskikh stepei v kontekste problemy transferta gorno-metallurgicheskikh traditsii v Severnuyu Evraziyu (The systematics of the Yamna cultural complexes of the Western Ponto-Caspian steppes in the context of the transfer of mine metallurgical traditions into Northern Eurasia). Stratum plus. Arkheologiya I Kul’turnaya Antropologiya (Stratum plus. Archaeology and Cultural Anthropology) 2, 133–157 (2017) (In Russian)
Bogdanov, S.V.: Tekhnologii gorno-metallurgicheskogo proizvodstva epokhi rannego metalla Severnoi Evrazii s pozitsii eksperimental'noi arkheologii. Fenomeny kul'tur rannego bronzovogo veka stepnoi i lesostepnoi polosy Evrazii: puti kul'turnogo vzaimodeistviya v V–III tys. do n.e. (The technologies of mining and metallurgical production of the early metal epoch in the Northern Eurasia from the standpoint of experimental archaeology. The phenomena of the Early Bronze Age cultures in the Eurasian steppe and forest-steppe areas: the paths of cultural interaction in the 5th–3rd millennia BC), 161–174. OGPU publishing house, Orenburg (2019) (In Russian)
Bogdanov, S.V., Tkachev, V.V., Yuminov, A.M., Avramenko, S.V.: Geoarkheologicheskaya sistema istoricheskikh mednykh rudnikov Priural'skogo (Kargalinskogo) stepnogo gorno-metallurgicheskogo tsentra (Geoarchaeological system of historical copper mines of the steppe Cis-Urals (Kargaly) mining and metallurgical center). Geoarkheologiya i arkheologicheskaya mineralogiya (Geoarchaeology and archaeological mineralogy) 5, 121–133 (2018) (In Russian)
Chernych, E.N.: Drevneishaya metallurgiya Urala I Povolzhya (Ancient metallurgy of the Urals and Volga region). 180 p. Nauka, Moscow (1970)
Faure, G., Mensing, T.M.: Isotopes: principles and applications. 928 p. John Wiley & Sons, (2005)
Hauptmann, A.: The archaeometallurgy of copper: evidence from Faynan, Jordan. 388 p. Springer Science & Business Media (2007)
Kamber, B.S., Gladu, A.H.: Comparison of Pb Purification by Anion-Exchange Resin Methods and Assessment of Long-Term Reproducibility of Th/U/Pb Ratio Measurements by Quadrupole ICP-MS. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Res 33(2), 169–181 (2009)
Kargaly I. Geologo-geograficheskie kharakteristiki. Istoriya otkrytii, ekspluatatsii i issledovanii. Arkheologicheskie pamyatniki (Geological and geographic features. History of discoveries, exploitation and studies). Ed. E.N. Chernykh. 112 p. Yazyki slavyanskoy kul’tury, Moscow (2002). (In Russian)
Kargaly II. Gornyi – poselenie epokhi pozdnei bronzy. Topografiya, litologiya, stratigrafiya. Proizvodstvenno-bytovye i sakral'nye sooruzheniya. Otnositel'naya i absolyutnaya khronologiya (Gorny – Lated Bronze Age settlement. Topography, lithology, stratigraphy. Production and utilitarian and sacred buildings. Relative and absolute chronology). Ed. E.N. Chernykh. 184 p. Yazyki slavyanskoy kultury, Moscow (2002) (In Russian)
Kargaly III. Selishche Gornyi: Arkheologicheskie materialy. Tekhnologiya gorno-metallurgicheskogo proizvodstva. Arkheobiologicheskie issledovaniya (The Gorny settlement: archaeological materials. The technology of mining and metallurgical production. Archaeobiological studies. Ed. E.N. Chernykh. 321 p. Yazyki slavyanskoy kul’tury, Moscow (2004). (In Russian)
Kargaly IV. Nekropoli na Kargalakh. Naselenie Kargalov: paleontologicheskie issledovaniya (Kargaly necropoles. Kargaly population: palaeontological studies). Ed. E.N. Chernykh. 240 p. Yazyki slavyanskoy kul’tury, Moscow (2005) (In Russian)
Kargaly V. Kargaly: fenomen i paradoksy razvitiya; Kargaly v sisteme metallurgicheskikh provintsii; Potaennaya (sakral'naya) zhizn’ arkhaichnykh gornyakov i metallurgov (Kargaly: phenomenon and paradoxes of development: Kargaly in the system of metallurgical provinces; hidden (sacred) life of archaic miners and metallurgists). Ed. E.N. Chernykh. 200 p. Yazyki slavyanskoy kul’tury, Moscow (2007) (In Russian)
Kiseleva, D.V., Shishlina, N.I., Streletskaya, M.V., Soloshenko, N.G., Okuneva, T.G., Shagalov, E.S.: MC ICP-MS Lead Isotope Analysis of Archaeological Metal Artifacts from the Bronze Age Sites of Eurasia. In: Yuminov, A., Ankusheva, N., Ankushev, M., Zaykova, E., Artemyev, D. (eds) Geoarchaeology and Archaeological Mineralogy. GAM 2019. Springer Proceedings in Earth and Environmental Sciences. Springer, Cham (2021)
Pernicka, E., Seeliger, T., Wagner, G.A., Begemann, F., Schmitt-Strecker, S., Eibner, C., Öztunali, Ö., Baranyi, I.: Archäometallurgische Untersuchungen in Nordwestanatolien. Jb Röm-German Zentralmuseum 31(2), 533–599 (1984)
Tessalina, S.G., Herrington, R.J., Taylor, R.N., Sundblad, K., Maslennikov, V.V., Orgeval, J.-J.: Lead isotopic systematics of massive sulfide deposits in the Urals: Applications for geodynamic setting and metal sources. Ore Geology Reviews 72, 22–36 (2016)
Tkachev, V.V.: Ural'sko-Mugodzharskii gorno-metallurgicheskii tsentr epokhi pozdnei bronzy (Ural-Mugodzhary mining and metallurgical center of the Late Bronze Age). Rossiiskaya arkheologiya (Russian Archaeology) 2, 43–55 (2011) (In Russian)
Tkačev, V., Zajkov, V., Juminov, A.: Das spätbronzezeitliche bergbaumetallurgische Zentrum von Mugodžary im System der Eurasischen Metallurgischen Provinz (Geoarchäologische Untersuchungen in Mugodžary). Unbekanntes Kasachstan – Archäologie im Herzen Asiens. Katalog der Ausstellung des Deutschen Bergbau-Museums Bochum vom 26. Januar bis zum 30. Juni 2013, pp. 471–482. Band I. Bochum: Deutsches Bergbau-Museum (2013)
Woodhead, J.: A simple method for obtaining highly accurate Pb isotope data by MC-ICP-MS. J. Anal. At. Spectrom 17, 1381–1387 (2002)
Yuminov, A.M., Zaikov, V.V., Korobkov, V.F., Tkachev, V.V.: Dobycha mednykh rud v bronzovom veke v Mugodzharakh (The development of copper ores in the Bronze Age Mugodzhary). Arkheologiya, etnografiya i antropologiya Evrazii (Archaeology, ethnography and anthropology of Eurasia) 3(55), 87–96 (2013) (In Russian)
Yuminov, A.M., Bogdanov, S.V., Tkachev, V.V., Avramenko, S.V., Manbetova, G.R.: Geokhimicheskaya kharakteristika rud istoricheskikh mednykh rudnikov stepnogo Priural'ya (Ore geochemical features of historical copper mines of the steppe Cis-Urals). Geoarkheologiya i arkheologicheskaya mineralogiya (Geoarchaeology and archaeological mineralogy) 4, 118–123 (2017) (In Russian)
Zaikov, V.V., Yuminov, A.M., Ankushev, M.N., Tkachev, V.V., Noskevich, V.V., Epimakhov, A.V.: Gorno-metallurgicheskie tsentry bronzovogo veka v Zaural'e i Mugodzharakh (Bronze Age mining and metallurgical centers in the Trans-Urals and Mugodzary. Izvestiya Irkutskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya “Geoarkheologiya, etnologiya, antropologiya” (Bulletin of the Irkutsk State University. Geoarchaeology, Ethnology, and Anthropology Series) 1(2), 174–195 (2013) (In Russian)
Acknowledgements
Lead isotope analysis was carried out at the “Geoanalitik” shared research facilities of the IGG UB RAS and supported by RSF, project No. 21-78-20018. The re-equipment and comprehensive development of the “Geoanalitik” shared research facilities of the IGG UB RAS is financially supported by the grant of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (Agreement No. 075-15-2021-680).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Kiseleva, D.V. et al. (2022). Lead Isotope Analysis of the Bronze Age Metal in the Steppe Cis- and Trans-Urals. In: Ankusheva, N., Chechushkov, I.V., Stepanov, I., Ankushev, M., Ankusheva, P. (eds) Geoarchaeology and Archaeological Mineralogy. Springer Proceedings in Earth and Environmental Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86040-0_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86040-0_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-86039-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-86040-0
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)