Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 52 (2) 2024   doi:10.17746/1563-0110.2024.52.2.065-073

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Metal Spearheads from the Bronze Age—
New Finds in the Omsk Region

A.P. Borodovsky

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

This study addresses the morphological features and chronology of the Seima-Turbino spearheads found by chance in the Omsk Region. Their chronology evidences both general and specific features of their distribution. Late specimens attest to a long period of their use in Western Siberia. Special attention is paid to rare spearheads with Janus-like anthropomorphic representations, whose style reveals parallels with both Okunev tradition and Bronze Age anthropomorphic toreutics of China. In the forest-steppe and southern taiga areas of the Middle Irtysh, Seima-Turbino spearheads co-occur with molds for their casting, testifying to local manufacture or replication. Consequently, even undocumented specimens can reveal the meridionally directed (south to north) trade routes. The abundance and diversity of Bronze Age spearheads from the Middle Irtysh provide yet another demonstration of this region’s significance as one of the centers from which Seima-Turbino bronzes spread across southwestern Siberia.

Keywords: Bronze Age, southwestern Siberia, Seima-Turbino transcultural phenomenon, spearheads, metal artifacts, trade routes, Middle Bronze Age, anthropomorphic representations