Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 44 (2) 2016 document link DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2016.44.2.081-090

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Early Medieval Jeweler’s Kit from the Western Amur Region

S.P. Nesterov¹, A.N. Savin¹, and Y.P. Kolmogorov^{1, 2}

¹Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

²Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Koptyuga 3, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

A late 9th century jeweler’s kit from dwelling 2 at Osinovoye Ozero, a Mohe site on the Middle Amur, is described. Bronze was smelted in a crucible placed on a ceramic support inside a vessel-like furnace. Nine bronze plaques from the same dwelling are compared with negatives of molds in which they were cast. Based on results of elemental analysis of the plaques, these fall into three groups. The fi rst differs from the second and third by the source of ore, and plaques of the second group were recast more than once. Most Turkic-type plaques were evidently destined for recasting and production of ornaments characteristic of the Mohe culture. These adornments include one openwork and two fi gured plaques as well as bronze bells found here in 2012 in dwelling 3. Since bronze objects differing in composition were recast several times, the source of the ore cannot be identifi ed. Techniques of manufacturing molds and processing of fi nished objects, used by Central Asian and Mohe artisans, are reconstructed.

Keywords: Amur Region, Osinovoye Ozero, vessel-like furnace, bronze metallurgy, bronze plaques, spectral analysis.

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