Middle Trans-Urals and Taiga Ob’ in the System of Relations of the West Asian Metallurgical province

Abstract

For years, the history of formation of metalwork traditions among the population of the taiga periphery of West Asian (Eurasian) Metallurgical province of the Late Bronze Age has remained an important research question. The article devotes special attention to the issue of infiltration and the nature of the barriers, which limited the introduction of the principal innovations of the Bronze Age (cattle, metal work, transportation) into the area where appropriating economy dominated local lifestyles. Various cultural models of the Bronze Age in the Ob’ river system and in the Middle Urals are being considered. The beginning of the Bronze Age in these regions was stimulated by the cultural impact caused by Seima-Turbino migrations. The introduction of bronze weapons did not significantly affect the indigenous systems of life. Upon the termination of the Seima-Turbino cultural influx, local cultures lost evident features of the Bronze Age. It’s confirmed that in the Middle Urals, rich in copper, there was a surge in mining and metal production twice in the pre-literate period, reflected in Koptyak and Itkul archaeological cultures. Their spectacular finds demonstrate that the raw material factor by itself does not determine the emergence of “high technologies”. Instead, factors related to demography, e. g. lifestyle, communication, division of labor, and developed algorithms for transmission of knowledge are much more important. The unique phenomenon arising in short-lived formations did not lead to further development. The Middle Urals gradually lost its advantage for human settlements, as well as its the status of the metalworking center, because of scarcity of the population, weak involvement into intercultural relations, and the loss of exclusivity of copper since the discovery of the benefits of the iron.