Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 46 (2) 2018   DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2018.46.2.025-034

Annotation:  Excavations at Darvagchay-Zaliv-4: An Early Paleolithic Site in Dagestan Argillite Artifacts and Final Pleistocene to Middle Holocene Cultural Links Across the Vitim River B Late Krotovo (Cherno-Ozerye) Burials with Casting Molds from Tartas-1, Baraba Forest-Steppe The Andronovo Age Women’s Costume, Based on Finds from Maytan, Central Kazakhstan Textile Decoration and Patterns on the Andronovo Vessels: Possible Reconstructions A Study of Bronze Age Ceramics from the Forest Zone of Eastern Europe: What Does the Term “Fatyanovo Petroglyphs of Zanskar, India: Findings of the 2016 Season Offerings of Hunnic-type Artifacts in Stone Enclosures at Altynkazgan, the Eastern Caspian Region Old Turkic Stone Enclosures at Kyzyl-Shin, Southeastern Altai New Data on Iron-Smelting Sites in the Kuektanar and Turgun Valleys, Southeastern Altai The Technology of Manufacturing Glass Beads at Gnezdovo, Smolensk Region Mongol Warriors of the Jochi Ulus at the Karasuyr Cemetery, Ulytau, Central Kazakhstan Silver Vessels of the Golden Horde Era from the Middle Ob Basin The Cemetery at Fort Umrevinsky, in the Upper Ob Basin Remains of Brown Bear (Ursus arctos L.) from the Kaninskaya Cave Sanctuary in the Northern Urals Animal Bones in Ritual Accumulations at Monkys Uriy Manifestation of Worldviews in Traditional Narratives: Reconstruction of Global Tendencies in the Sp   

Late Krotovo (Cherno-Ozerye) Burials with Casting Molds
from Tartas-1, Baraba Forest-Steppe

V.I. Molodin and I.A. Durakov

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

This article describes five burials with casting molds from the Late Krotovo (Cherno-Ozerye) cemetery Tartas-1 in the Baraba forest-steppe. Three of them form a distinct group belonging to two parallel rows of graves. One of the reconstructed molds was used for casting Seima-Turbino-type celts, and another, for manufacturing thin rods, round in section. A core was found, which was used for making a hole in a tiny chisel-like tool. All the molds are made of clay and bear traces of prolonged use. They were made using a bottom board; molding mixture was smoothed and tamped, excessive material was removed with a narrow-bladed cutting tool, and lines were drawn on the raw surface. Certain graves with casting tools were single, others were collective. All basic age and sex groups are represented: adults, adolescents, women, and children, apparently suggesting that all were involved in manufacture, and that the skills were transmitted from one generation to another. Because children were involved too, status was heritable. Emphasis on bronze casting in the funerary rite, virtually without traces of other specializations, indicates a separate social stratum, whose share was no higher than 4 %. Obviously, not all its members were professional casters; some may have participated occasionally.

Keywords: Bronze Age, metal-working, burials, casting molds, Late Krotovo (Cherno-Ozerye) culture