DONETSK MINING AND METALLURGICAL CENTER AND PRODUCTION HUBS OF THE EASTERN EUROPEAN STEPPE OF THE BRONZE AGE: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PRODUCTION ACTIVITIES


Keywords: Donetsk Mining and Metallurgical Center, Kargaly, Kartamysh archaeological microdistrict, Mikhailo-Ovsyanka, copper ore.

Abstract

Large-scale works have been carried out at the beginning of this century on the background of the set of Bronze Age monuments in the zone of Kartamysh copper ore occurrence in the Bakhmut basin of Donbass. Taking into account some previously researched monuments of mining and metallurgical activities within other ore occurrences of the Donetsk ridge, those works enable to compare the monuments of the Donetsk Mining and Metallurgical Center (DMMC) with other specialized monuments of Srubnaya cultural community in the copper ore territories of the Eastern European steppe.

The monuments of Kartamysh archaeological microdistrict, as well as the other monuments of the Donetsk mining and metallurgical center, located in the zone of copper ore occurrences in the Bakhmut basin of Donbass, give evidences of all the cycles of ancient metal production. The majority of them are the evidence of the mining and ore-dressing cycle. Thus, the considerable volumes of mined and dressed ore, found in Kartamysh, as well as in other ore occurrences of the Bakhmut basin, currently suggest that the monuments in the ore territory of Donbass mainly operate within mining system. Similar specialization is observed in other mining and metallurgical areas in Eastern Europe, such as Mikhailo-Ovsyanka (Povolzhye) and Kargaly (South Ural). A feature of the DMMC is far lesser intensity of metallurgy and metalworking in its cultural frames. Limited range of DMMC monuments indicate that the production of metal products was focused only on domestic consumption.

Fracturing of the Donbass bedrock, in contrast to the monolithic bedrock of Povolzhye, and especially to the Southern Urals, facilitated the effective use of stone tools in the process of mining. In the MMC, operating within the eastern production zone of the Srubnaya cultural community (Mikhailo-Ovsyanka, Kargaly), miners and metallurgists had to develop metallurgy more actively, since the features of geology in these regions required the use of metal tools to extract copper ores. Obviously, this circumstance explains a large number of end fragments of metal pickaxes found at Kargaly, as well as casting molds for casting these tools.

The functioning of the full-scale cycle of ancient metal production and even visually recorded scale of ancient mining activity in the zone of copper ore occurrences of the Bakhmut basin gives reasons to assert the existence of mining and metallurgical center focused on large-scale production in the Donetsk Ridge in the Bronze Age. The main products of the DMMC were not metal items or even ingots, as it had been considered previously, but enriched copper ore (concentrate) as raw material for metallurgical production.

Enriched ore was the commodity to be exchanged by the miners and metallurgists of the Donetsk center. It could be possibly done via professional traders with neighboring and distant tribes, and was exchanged for livestock and agriculture products, as well as for various household items.

The analysis, carried out in the paper, proves that other mining and metallurgical complexes of the Eastern European steppe (Kargaly, Mikhailo-Ovsyanka), which had been previously explored, also operated at the same time and in similar to the DMMC production system.

References

Berezanskaia, S. S. 1990. Usovo ozero. Poselenie na Severskom Dontse. Kiev: Naukova dumka.
Boroffka, N., Partsinger, G. 2005. Issledovanie Karnab-Sichkonchi — poselenie metallurgov epokhi bronzy na territorii Samarkandskoi oblasti Uzbekistana. In: Problemy hirnychoi arkheolohii. Materialy II-ho mizhnarodnoho Kartamyskoho polovoho arkheolohichnoho seminaru, 21—25 lypnia 2003 r. Alchevsk: DonDTU, s. 41-46.
Brovender, Iu. M. Obsledovanie pamiatnikov epokhi pozdnei bronzy na rudoproiavlenii Mednaia Ruda. In: Problemy doslidzhennia pam’iatok arkheolohii Skhidnoi Ukrainy. Materialy II-i Luhanskoi mizhnarodnoi istoryko-arkheolohichnoi konferentsii, 25—26 zhovtnia 2005 r. Luhansk, LOKM, s. 90-94.
Brovender, Iu. M. 2007. Nakhodki detalei konskoi upriazhi v kontekste Donetskogo gorno-metallurgicheskogo tsentra epokhi bronzy. Materialy ta doslidzhennia z arkheolohii Skhidnoi Ukrainy, 7, s. 224-234.
Brovender, Yu. M. 2008a. Kopalnia Chervone ozero IV Kartamyskoho hirnycho-metalurhiinoho kompleksu doby bronzy. Arkheolohiia, 4, s. 64-69.
Brovender, Iu. M. 2008b. Itogi raskopok tekhnogennogo uchastka na Kartamyshskom rudoproiavlenii. Drevnosti 2006—2008, s. 184-203.
Brovender, Iu. M. 2012 Itogi issledovaniia kompleksa gorno-metallurgicheskikh pamiatnikov na Kartamyshskom rudoproiavlenii Donbassa. In: Problemy issledovaniia pamiatnikov arkheologii Vostochnoi Ukrainy: Materialy III-go mezhdunarodnoi istoriko-arkheologicheskoi nauchnoi konferentsii, 25—26 oktiabria 2012 g. Lugansk: LOKM, s. 551-
556.
Brovender, Yu. M. 2016. Donetskyi hirnycho-metalurhiinyi tsentr doby bronzy. Avtoreferat dysertatsii d. i. n. IA NAN Ukrainy.
Brovender, Iu. M., Gaiko, G. I., Shubin, Iu. P. 2010. Opredelenie obieemov gornykh rabot i otsenka dobychi mednykh rud na drevnikh razrabotkakh Kartamyshskogo rudoproiavleniia v Donbasse. Materialy ta doslidzhennia z arkheolohii Skhidnoi Ukrainy, 10, s. 213-219.
Brovender, Iu. M., Gorovoi, A. F., Dorofeev, V. N., Otroshchenko, V. V., Priakhin, A. D., Shkurskii, E. F., Shafranskii, V. G. 2002. Ukrainsko-rossiiskaia ekspeditsiia po izucheniiu drevnikh pamiatnikov gornogo dela Donbassa (itogi polevogo sezona 2001 goda i perspektivy issledovanii. Kiev; Voronezh: DGMI.
Brovender, Iu. M., Otroshchenko, V. V. 2002. Drevnie rudniki v basseine Severskogo Dontsa, Vostochnaia Ukraina. In: Kargalinskii mezhdunarodnyi polevoi simpozium: Materialy simpoziuma. Moskva: IA RAN, s. 53-54.
Brovender, Yu. M., Otroshchenko, V. V., Priakhyn, A. D. 2007. Donbaskyi derzhavnyi tekhnichnyi universytet u vyvchenni davnoi vyrobnychoi diialnosti plemen skhidnoievropeiskoho stepu ta lisostepu (do vuzivskoho yuvileiu). In: Problemy hirnychoi arkheolohii: Materialy VI-ho Kartamyskoho mizhnarodnoho polovoho arkheolohichnoho seminaru, 15—16 lypnia 2007 r. Alchevsk: DonDTU, s. 5-10.
Brovender, Yu. M., Otroshchenko, V. V., Priakhin, A. D. 2010. Kartamyskyi kompleks hirnycho-metalurhiinykh pam’iatok bronzovoho viku v Tsentralnomu Donbasi. Arkheolohiia, 2, s. 87-101.
Gorashchuk, I. V., Kolev, Iu. I. 2004. Kamennye i kostianye orudiia s rudnika bronzovogo veka Mikhailo-Ovsianka na iuge Samarskoi oblasti. Voprosy arkheologii Urala i Povolzhia, 2, s. 89-104.
Grishin, Iu. S. 1980. Drevniaia dobycha medi i olova. Moskva: Nauka.
Dergachev, V. A. 2010. Topory-kelty pozdnei bronzy Karpato-Podunavia. 1. Kishineu: Institut kulturnogo naslediya ANRM.
Zahorodnia, O. M. 2014. Pro pryznachennia odniiei z katehorii kistianykh znariad Kartamyshu. Arkheolohiia, 1, s. 15-28.
Kileinikov, V. V. 1996. Trasologicheskii analiz kamennykh orudii truda s rudnika Chervone ozero. In: Severo-Vostochnoe Priazove v sisteme evraziiskikh drevnostei (eneolit — bronzovyi vek): materialy mezhdunarodnoi konferentsii. 2. Donetsk: DonGU, s. 3-4.
Kileinikov, V. V. 2005. Novye trasologicheskie dannye ob orudiiakh truda s pamiatnikov Kartamyshskogo rudoproiavleniia Podontsovia. In: Problemy hirnychoi arkheolohii: Materialy II-ho Kartamyskoho mizhnarodn. polovoho arkheolohichnoho seminaru, 21—25 lypnia 2003 r. Alchevsk: DonDTU, s. 80-85.
Kuznetsova, E. F., Teplovodskaia, T. M. 1994. Drevniaia metallurgiia i goncharstvo Tsentralnogo Kazakhstana. Almaty.
Kuzminykh, S. V. 2004a. Shlaky. In: Chernykh, E. N. (ed.). Kargaly. III, Moskva: Iazyki slavianskoi kultury, s. 101-105.
Kuzminykh, S. V. 2004b. Metall i metallicheskie izdeliia. In: Chernykh, E. N. (ed.). Kargaly. III. Moskva: Iazyki slavianskoi kultury, s. 76-100.
Kuzminykh, S. V. 2004c. Liteinye formy. In: Chernykh E. N. (ed.). Kargaly. III. Moskva: Iazyki slavianskoi kultury, s. 134-156.
Kurіlenko, V. Ie., Otroshchenko, V. V. 1998. Sosnitska kultura Podesennia ta ii zv’iazki іz zakhіdnimi susіdami. In: Kosko, A., Czebreszuk, J. (eds.). Trzciniec — sistemkulturowy czy interkulturow process? Poznan, s. 239-251.
Kushtan, D. P. 2013. Pivden Lisostepovoho Podniprov’ia za doby piznoi bronzy. Arkheolohichnyi almanakh, 29. Donetsk: Donbas.
Lunkov, V. Iu. 2004. Keramicheskii kompleks. In: Chernykh, E. N. (ed.). Kargaly. III. Moskva: Iazyki slavianskoi kultury, s. 22-75.
Lysenko, S. D. 2013. K voprosu o vozmozhnykh kontaktakh kievo-cherkasskoi gruppy tshinetskogo kulturnogo kruga s Donetskim GMTs. In: Problemy hirnychoi arkheolohii. Materialy IX-ho Kartamyskoho mizhnarodnoho polovoho arkheolohichnoho seminaru 15—16 lypnia 2009 r. Alchevsk: DonDTU, s. 86-96.
Margulan, A. Kh. 2001. Saryarka. Gornoe delo i metallurgiia v epokhu bronzy. Dzhezkazgan — drevnii i srednevekovyi metallurgicheskii tsentr (gorodishche Milykuduk). 2. Almaty: Nauka.
Margulan, A. Kh., Akishev, K. A., Kadyrbaev, M. K., Orazbaev, A. M. 1965. Drevniaia kultura Tsentralnogo Kazakhstana. Alma-Ata: Nauka.
Matveeva, G. I., Kolev, Iu. I., Korolev, A. I. 2004. Gorno-metallurgicheskii kompleks bronzovogo veka u s. Mikhailo-Ovsianka na iuge Samarskoi oblasti (pervye rezultaty issledovaniia). Voprosy arkheologii Urala i Povolzhia, 2, s. 69-
88.
Molodin, V. I., Priakhin, A. D. K vydeleniiu proizvodstvennykh zon epokhi bronzy na prostranstvakh Evraziiskoi stepi i lesostepi. In: Problemy hirnychoi arkheolohii: Materialy II-ho Kartamyskoho mizhnarodnoho polovoho arkheolohichnoho seminaru, 21—25 lypnia 2003 r. Alchevsk: DonDTU, s. 7-9.
Otroshchenko, V. V. 1994. O dvukh liniiakh razvitiia kultur srubnoi obshchnosti. In: Problemy skifo-sarmatskoi arkheologii Severnogo Prichernomoria: Tezisy dokladov mezhdunarodnoi konferentsii k 95-letiiu B. N. Grakova. 2. Zaporozhe: ZapGU, s. 150-153.
Otroshchenko, V. V. 2000. O kulturakh srubnoi obshchnosti. In: Srubnaia kulturno-istoricheskaia obshchnost v sisteme drevnostei epokhi bronzy evraziiskoi stepi i lesostepi: Materialy mezhdunarodnoi nauchnoi konferentsii. Voronezh: VGU, s. 10-14.
Otroshchenko, V. V. 2002. Istoriia plemen zrubnoi spilnosti. Avtoreferat dysertatsii d. i. n. IA NAN Ukrainy.
Otroshchenko, V. V. 2003a. K istorii plemen srubnoi obshchnosti. Arkheologiia vostochnoevropeiskoi lesostepi, 17: Dono-Donetskii region v epokhu bronzy, s. 68-96.
Otroshchenko, V. V. 2003b. Kultury zrubnoi spilnoty ta hirnycho-metalurhiini tsentry. In: Problemy hirnychoi arkheolohii: Materialy I-ho Kartamyskoho mizhnarodnoho polovoho arkheolohichnoho seminaru, 14—15 lypnia 2002 r. Alchevsk: DonDTU, s. 47-51.
Otroshchenko, V. V. 2004. Tendentsii rozvytku hospodarchykh system doby piznoi bronzy na terenakh Ukrainy. In: Kosko, A. (ed.) Nomadyzm a pastoralizm w miedzyrzeczu Wisly I Dniepru (neolit, eneolit, epoka brazu). Poznan, s. 215-221.
Otroshchenko, V. V. 2005a. Kulturno-hospodarcha sytuatsiia na pivdni Skhidnoi Yevropy v 1600—1200 rokakh do n. e. razvitiia gornogo dela. Alchevsk: DonGTU, s. 94-101.
Otroshchenko, V. V. 2005a. Kulturno-hospodarcha sytuatsiia na pivdni Skhidnoi Yevropy v 1600—1200 rokakh do n. e. In: Haiko, H. Y. (ed.). Ystorycheskye y futurolohycheskye aspektы razvytyia hornoho dela. Alchevsk: DonHTU, s. 94-101.
Otroshchenko, V. V. 2005b. Dnipro-Donetskyi oseredok kulturohenezy (postanovka problemy). In: Problemy doslidzhennia pam’iatok arkheolohii Skhidnoi Ukrainy: Materialy II-i Luhanskoi mizhnarodnoъ istoryko-arkheolohichnoi konferentsii, 25—26 zhovtnia 2005 r. Luhansk, s. 36-38.
Otroshchenko, V. V. 2007. Kulturni ta chasovi osoblyvosti vykorystannia metalu v pokhovalnykh rytualakh zrubnoi spilnoty. In: Problemy hirnychoi arkheolohii: Materialy VI-ho Kartamyskoho mizhnarodnoho polovoho arkheolohichnoho seminaru. Alchevsk: DonDTU, s. 40-52.
Otroshchenko, V. V. 2011. Do prychyny ta chasu prypynennia rozrobok midnorudnykh pokladiv Donbasu za doby bronzy. In: Problemy hirnychoi arkheolohii: Materialy VIII-ho Kartamyskoho mizhnarodnoho polovoho arkheolohichnoho seminaru. Alchevsk: DonDTU, s. 123-134.
Otroshchenko, V. V., Brovender, Iu. M., Priakhin, A. D., Besedin, V. I. 1996. Ukrainsko-rossiiskaia ekspeditsiia po izucheniiu Kapitanovskogo arkheologicheskogo mikroraiona pamiatnikov epokhi bronzy (itogi rabot 1995—1996 gg.). In: Dono-Donetskii region v sisteme drevnostei epokhi bronzy vostochnoevropeiskoi stepi i lesostepi: Tezisy dokladov i materialy rossiisko-ukrainskoi nauchnoi konferentsii i vtorogo ukrainsko-rossiiskogo polevogo seminara. 2. Voronezh: VGU, s. 4-10.
Otroshchenko, V. V., Priakhin, A. D., Besedin, V. I., Brovender, Iu. M., Savrasov, A. S. 1997. Ukrainsko-rossiiskaia ekspeditsiia po izucheniiu pamiatnikov epokhi bronzy Donetskogo basseina. Arkheologiia vostochnoevropeiskoi lesostepi, 10: Piatdesiat polevykh sezonov arkheologov Voronezhskogo universiteta, s. 98-100.
Otroshchenko, V. V., Rassamakin, Yu. Ya. 1997. Z pryvodu kulturnoi nalezhnosti kompleksiv loboikivsko-derbedenivskoi zony metaloobrobky. In: Sabatinovskaia i srubnaia kultury: problemy vzaimosviazei vostoka i zapada v epokhu pozdnei bronzy: Tezisy dokladov I-go vsesoiuznogo polevogo seminara. Kiev; Nikolaev; Iuzhnourainsk, s. 23-25.
Otroshchenko, V. V., Tupchiienko, M. P. 2005. Bronzovi klepani kazany ta Donetskyi hirnycho-metalurhiinyi tsentr. In: Problemy hirnychoi arkheolohii: Materialy II-ho Kartamyskoho mizhnarodnoho polovoho arkheolohichnoho seminaru 21—25 lypnia 2003 r. Alchevsk: DonDTU, s. 176-184.
Pankovskyi, V. B. 2005. Deiaki rezultaty tekhnolohichnoho ta funktsionalnoho analizu kistianykh znariad Chervonoho ozera I. In: Problemy hirnychoi arkheolohii: Materialy II-ho Kartamyskoho mizhnarodnoho polovoho arkheolohichnoho seminaru 21—25 lypnia 2003 r. Alchevsk: DonDTU, s. 189-192.
Priakhin, A. D. 1996. Mosolovskoe poselenie metallurgov-liteishchikov epokhi pozdnei bronzy. 2. Voronezh: VGU.
Priakhin, A. D., Otroshchenko, V. V., Besedin, V. I., Brovender, Iu. M. 2000a. Poselenie epokhi bronzy Kapitanovo II. Voronezh: VGU.
Priakhin, A. D., Otroshchenko, V. V., Savrasov, A. S., Brovender, Iu. M. 2000b. Osnovnye itogi raboty ukrainsko-rossiiskoi arkheologicheskoi ekspeditsii po izucheniiu Kartamyshskogo rudoproiavleniia v Donbasse. In: Srubnaia kulturno-istoricheskaia obshchnost v sisteme drevnostei epokhi bronzy Evraziiskoi stepi i lesostepi: Materialy mezhdunarodnoi nauchnoi konferentsii. Voronezh: VGU, s. 99-104.
Priakhin, A. D., Otroshchenko, V. V., Savrasov, A. S., Brovender, Iu. M. 2003. Nekotorye rezultaty issledovanii na Kartamyshskom rudoproiavlenii Luganskoi oblasti Ukrainy. Arkheologiia vostochnoevropeiskoi lesostepi, 17: Dono-Donetskii region v epokhu bronzy, s. 102-117.
Priakhin, A. D., Savrasov, A. S., Otroshchenko, V. V., Brovender, Iu. M. 1996. Obsledovanie rudnika na rudoproiavlenii Kartamysh. In: Dono-Donetskii region v sisteme drevnostei epokhi bronzy vostochnoevropeiskoi stepi i lesostepi: Tezisy dokladov i materialy rossiisko-ukrainskoi nauchnoi konferentsii i vtorogo ukrainsko-rossiiskogo polevogo arkheologicheskogo seminara. 2. Voronezh: VGU, s. 10-13.
Priakhin, A. D., Savrasov, A. S., Otroshchenko, V. V., Brovender, Iu. M. 2008. Istoriia izucheniia Kartamyshskogo kompleksa gorno-metallurgicheskikh pamiatnikov na territorii Ukrainy. Iz istorii otechestvennoi arkheologii, 1, s. 187-204.
Romashko, V. A. 2013. Zakliuchitelnyi etap pozdnego bronzovogo veka Levoberezhnoi Ukrainy (po materialam boguslavsko-belozerskoi kultury). Kiev: KNT.
Savrasov, A. S. 1998. Metalloobrabotka naseleniia donskoi lesostepnoi srubnoi kultury. Avtoreferat dissertatsii k. i. n. VGU.
Savrasov, A. S. 2000. Organizatsiia proizvodstvennoi deiatelnosti naseleniia srubnoi kulturno-istoricheskoi obshchnosti (metalloobrabotka i metallurgiia). In: Srubnaia kulturno-istoricheskaia obshchnost v sisteme drevnostei epokhi bronzy Evraziiskoi stepi i lesostepi: Materialy mezhdunarodnoi nauchnoi konferentsii. Voronezh: VGU, s. 104-110.
Satpaev, K. I. 1967. Izbrannye trudy. 1. Alma-Ata: Nauka.
Tatarinov, S. I. 2003. Drevnie gorniaki-metallurgi. Slaviansk: Pechatnyi dvor.
Tatarynov, S. Y. 2006. Istoriia hirnychoi spravy, metalurhii ta metaloobrobky doby bronzy Skhidnoi Ukrainy. Dysertatsiia k. i. n. DonHU.
Formozov, A. A. 1951. Arkheologicheskie pamiatniki v raione Orska. Kratkie soobshcheniia IIMK, 36, s. 115-122.
Chernikov, S. S. 1960. Vostochnyi Kazakhstan v epokhu bronzy. Moskva; Leningrad: AN SSSR.
Tikhonov, B. G. 1960. Metallicheskie izdeliia epokhi bronzy na srednem Urale i Priurale. Materialy i issledovaniia po arkheologii SSSR, 90, s. 5-115.
Chernykh, E. N. 1972. Metall — chelovek — vremia. Moskva: Nauka.
Chernykh, E. N. 2002. Kargaly: fenomen, paradoksy i model funktsionirovaniia. In: Drevneishie etapy gornogo dela v Severnoi Evrazii. Kargalinskii kompleks: Materialy mezhdunarodnogo polevogo simpoziuma. Moskva: IA RAN, s. 85-86.
Chernykh, E. N. 2004. Tekhnologiia razvedok i gornykh vyrabotok v bronzovom veke na Kargalakh. In: Chernykh, E. N. (ed.). Kargaly. III. Moskva: Iazyki slavianskoi kultury, s. 249-264.
Chernykh, E. N. 2007. Kargaly. V. Moskva: Iazyki slavianskoi kultury.
Chernykh, E. N. 2009. Stepnoi poias Evrazii: fenomen kochevykh kultur. Moskva: Rukopisnye pamiatniki Drevnei Rusi.
Forbes, R. J. 1950. Metallurgy in Antiguity. Leiden.

Abstract views: 91
PDF Downloads: 127
Published
2021-09-30
How to Cite
Brovender, Y. M. (2021). DONETSK MINING AND METALLURGICAL CENTER AND PRODUCTION HUBS OF THE EASTERN EUROPEAN STEPPE OF THE BRONZE AGE: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PRODUCTION ACTIVITIES. Archaeology and Early History of Ukraine, 39(2), 109-118. https://doi.org/10.37445/adiu.2021.02.05