Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 52 (2) 2024   doi:10.17746/1563-0110.2024.52.2.074-083

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The Geochemistry of Unalloyed Copper Metallurgical Group
Indicates Copper Ore Sources in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages
of the Urals

D.A. Artemyev¹, M.N. Ankushev¹, I.S. Stepanov¹, N.B. Vinogradov², I.P. Alaeva², P.S. Ankusheva^{1, 2}, L.N. Koryakova³, and A.M. Naumov⁴

¹South Ural Federal Scientific Center of Mineralogy and Geoecology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Ilmensky Reserve, Miass, 456317, Russia

²South Ural State Humanitarian and Pedagogical University, Pr. Lenina 69, Chelyabinsk, 454080, Russia

³Institute of History and Archaeology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, S. Kovalevskoi 16, Yekaterinburg, 620108, Russia

⁴MPI Ozersk City District “City Museum”, Pr. Pobedy 2, Ozersk, 456780, Russia

Trace elements in copper artifacts from Late Bronze and Early Iron Age sites in the Urals, formerly attributed to the metallurgical group of "chemically pure" copper, were analyzed using the method of laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The metal ofwhich artifacts included in this group are made reveals geochemical markers suggesting that "pure" copper actually falls into several subgroups. The PCA analysis of the results identifies 11 clusters corresponding to various sources of copper ores and their mixtures. At least seven principal associations can be linked to copper deposits of different geological types and origin: Au-Te-Bi, Au-Se-Te-Sb, Fe-Co-Ni-As-Sb, Fe-Co-Ni -Zn, Se-Co-Fe, Ag-Pb-Ni, and Sb-Pb-Zn-As. Also, several mixed associations reflect the fusion of copper items and metal scrap initially obtained from different sources: Sn-Pb, Fe-Co-Ni-Zn + Sn, Fe-Co-Ni + Au-Te-Bi-Ag, Fe-Co-Ni + Au-Te-Bi + Sn. A separate association, for which the ore source remains unknown, consists of artifacts characterized by a low content of trace elements, jointly making up less than 0.01 wt%. The largest sample in the Late Bronze Age "pure copper" group falls within the Sn-Pb cluster representing a mixture of local copper and imported Sn-containing copper scrap. Judging by trace elements, the main sources of ore in the "pure copper" group of the Itkul and Sarmatian cultures were the Gumeshki mine and another unidentified source. Both could have been used already in the Final Bronze Age.

Keywords: Copper geochemistry, trace elements, deposits, metallurgical group, Urals, Late Bronze Age, Early Iron Age