Issue 4 (69)
| TECHNOLOGICAL ALGORITHMS OF THE PASTORAL MODEL OF METAL PRODUCTION IN THE STEPPE REGIONS OF NORTH EURASIA IN THE BRONZE AGE | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 2020 | Number | 4(69) |
| Pages | 6-14 | Type | scientific article |
| UDC | 902(415)“637” | BBK | 63.4(0) |
| Authors | Bogdanov Sergey V. |
Topic | MOBILITY IN THE BRONZE AGE |
| Summary | The original model of metal production was realized in the steppe of North Eurasia since 4th to 2nd millenium BC. It was characterized by unique features of the natural-climatic, territorial, economic-cultural (cattle-breeding) production system. Also, it was notable for specifics of ore preparation for melting using the pyrotechnic method (beneficiating and fining fire under temperatures to 1 000°C), and the chemical approach (oxidation by potash), recovery of cooper in reverberatory furnaces with segregation of smelted metals on the pyroxene or olivine slag box above and the whole pancake-shaped ingot of blister recovered cooper (93–98 % Cu; 0,5–2 % Fe; 0,5–1,5 % S and others) on the bottom of an iron mold. Various stages of the mining and smelting industry had a seasonal character and correlated with cattle-breeding cycles. In the steppe of North Eurasia, different variants of the pasturable model had existed for several millennia, combining the two largest metal-production systems of the Old World — Circum-Pontic Metallurgical Country (CPMC) and Eurasian Metallurgical Country (EAMP). The final stages of the metal tools production industry connected with molding and forging processing of items varied substantially in different cultures. Still, basic technological algorithms of cooper production had slightly evolved during the Early Metal epoch. In the steppe of North Eurasia, the metallurgical boom exhausted accessible deposits of resources traditional for 4th–2nd millenium BC, for example, sulfide ore (chalcocite and other minerals) in cooper slates and silica-carbonate metal (chrysocolla and others) in copper sandstones of the Late Permian deposits as well as secondary sulfides of “chalcocite horizons” in zones of secondary concentration of principal deposits. It led to the development of Chalcopyrite raw material of copper-pyrite deposits. The boom was connected with the activity of the Srubnaya and Alakulskaya culture’s miners in the Late Bronze Age. Chalcopyrites processing was based on technological algorithms of the pastoral mining model and metallurgical production had been formed before, in the second half of the 2nd millenium BC. Besides the involvement of practically inexhaustible resources of cooper stuff into the metallurgical division, it led to receiving a byproduct — iron and refinery slag. Theoretical points stated in the paper have been verified by archaeological materials, data of scientific analysis and a series of successful archaeological-metallurgical experiments in 2018–2020. | ||
| Keywords | steppes of North Eurasia, Bronze Age, pastoral model of metal production, ore protolith, technology of processing, refining of ore concentrates and pyrotechnic recovery of copper, casting and forging processing of products | ||
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