Tin mining and bronze production in Eastern Kazakhstan in the 2nd millennium BC (based on materials from the Betegeli-1 settlement)
Б.д.д. ІІ мыңжылдықтағы Шығыс Қазақстандағы қалайы өндіру және қола жасау (Бетегелі-1 қонысының материалдары негізінде)
Добыча олова и производство бронзы в Восточном Казахстане во II тыс. до н.э. (по материалам поселения Бетегели-1)
Samashev Z. Vodyasov E. Sadibekov A. Zaitceva O.
31 December 2025Margulan Institute of Archaeology
Kazakhstan Archeology
2025#2025Issue 411 - 27 pp.
The article is devoted to the study of metallurgical evidence from the Betegeli-1 settlement, located in Eastern Kazakhstan and associated with a tin ore deposit. Based on archaeological and radiocarbon data, the settlement is dated to the 18th–14th centuries BC, leading to the conclusion that intensive metallurgical activity and a complete production cycle took place directly at the cassiterite deposit. The previously prevailing view that metallurgical production was absent at the tin deposits of Eastern Kazakhstan and that cassiterite was transported over long distances from the ore sources is reconsidered. X-ray fluorescence analysis of the metallurgical evidence demonstrated the synchronous existence at the settlement of at least two different methods of producing tin bronze: through the co-smelting of ores and through the remelting of copper and tin obtained separately. For the first time, standardized bronze rod-shaped blanks produced at the settlement are published, and a hypothesis is proposed regarding the large-scale Eurasian trade in such products. Funding source: This research has been funded by the Science Committee of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Grant No. AP26194541). Excavations of the Betegeli-1 settlement were carried out in 2023–2024 as part of the ‘Programme for the Development of Scientific Research in the Field of Archaeology in the East Kazakhstan Region’ (led by Z. Samashev).
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Margulan Institute of Archaeology, Astana, Kazakhstan
D. Serikbayev East Kazakhstan Technical University, Oskemen, Kazakhstan
Margulan Institute of Archaeology
D. Serikbayev East Kazakhstan Technical University
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