New data on the chronology, composition of copper-base artifacts and the organization of the Alakul metal production in the Southern Trans-Urals Bronze Age settlements

The Alakul archaeological culture of the Late Bronze Age (c. 1900–1500 BCE) Central Eurasia is renowned for the enormous amount of copper-base artifacts. Previous studies into metallurgical production have been mainly based on finished metal items from burial grounds, which provided only limited insight into the technological and organizational components of the metal economy. In this preliminary study we conduct major and trace element analyses using SEM-EDS and LA-ICP-MS of 92 copper-base items from five extensively excavated Alakul settlements in the southern Trans-Urals aiming to provide the first insight into metal production practices at everyday life sites. The AMS radiocarbon analyses of four settlements are also presented for the first time revealing the narrow timespan of the Alakul culture in the southern Trans-Urals (c. 1700–1600 BCE). The settlements have no signs of metal smelting, although signs of casting, forging, and the remelting of finished items indicate that this period was marked by these production stages. Repair items and household tools dominate; there are much fewer melting wastes, weapons, and items of jewelry. 72 items are made of copper, only 20 of bronze. This completely changes the understanding of the categories and alloys of metal items of the Alakul culture, studied in the burial grounds. The inhabitants of these settlements could obtain finished metal from distant (southern Cis-Urals, Northern and Central Kazakhstan) and nearby locations. In the latter case, the metal could have been supplied from specialized mining and metallurgist settlements located near the copper deposits of the southern Trans-Urals. In the 1700–1600s BCE, the southern Trans-Urals were marked by several settlements without smelting evidence that imported and processed finished metal; 78% of the items found within the settlements are made of copper and only 22% are made of tin bronze; The absence of tin or polymetallic (Cu-Sn) deposits allows us to presumably use tin as a sign of non-local tin raw materials or bronze recycling; The Alakul settlements can be divided into mining, smelting, and metalworking/metal-consuming.