NOVOSIBIRSK STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY
The dissertation “Bronze-Casting in the Ob-Irtysh Forest-Steppe Area in the Bronze Age - the Transitional Time from Bronze to Iron” was written based on the materials from excavations of 26 monuments of Bronze Age cultures having traces of metalworking.
In the middle of the last century, the so-called Seima-Turbino phenomenon was introduced to the archaeological records. This actually means certain types of weapons and tools associated with metal production that were found over a large territory from Mongolia and Siberia to the Urals and Bessarabia. Based on an analysis of the objects from the Bessarabian (Borodino) treasure, scientists have suggested that this phenomenon dates back to the 17-15 centuries BC. But in the last 20 years, foundry molds for casting products of the Seima-Turbino type were found in the monuments of the Odinovo and Krotovo cultures (distinguished by Vyacheslav Ivanovich Molodin). These cultures, as shown by the radiocarbon method, date back to the beginning and throughout the third millennium BC. Because of this fact, the scientists can date the appearance of the Seima-Turbino phenomenon to at least the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. At the Tartas-1 monument in the Vengerovsky district, in particular, a whole complex of buildings of a foundry workshop of the Odinovo culture was found. The four rooms in this place were intended only for working with metal and, apparently, functioned only in the summer, - says Igor Albertovich.
According to the archaeologist, the technologies used by the first foundries came to the Novosibirsk region from the east, possibly from the territory of Northern China. But this hypothesis still needs to be verified.
The first metal products manufactured by people were jewelry made from nuggets: gold, silver and copper. Later, more complex technologies appeared: metal smelting and casting. The Seima-Turbine technology is thin-walled casting. It appeared at the beginning of the third millennium BC and, gradually improving, has reached the present day. Mining and foundry workers can be considered the most ancient professions. They were the ones who owned the first burials with objects that indicated their professional identity. Metal processing is a complex process, it requires special skills and a lot of work, so communities allowed foundry workers to be free from other household chores, - explains Igor Albertovich Durakov.
The Krotovskaya culture was identified by Vyacheslav Ivanovich Molodin in 1975, and later, the Odinovskaya culture was identified in 2008. The bearers of these related cultures of the Bronze Age had a more advanced economy, engaged in fishing and hunting, and raising horses, cows and sheep.
