The problem of the beginning of iron production in the Late Bronze Age of the Ural-Kazakhstan region is dis-cussed. For this, 13 iron-bearing artefacts from nine settlements that functioned in the 2nd mil. BC were studied using the SEM-EDS and LA-ICP-MS methods: metal objects, metallurgical slags, and a bimetallic droplet. Most of the studied artefacts are not related to the iron metallurgy. High ferric impurities in copper metal products of the Late Bronze Age on the territory of the Southern Trans-Urals are caused by the use of iron-rich ore concentrates. The raw materials for these products were represented by mixed oxidized-sulphide ores from the cementation subzone of the volcanogenic massive sulphide and skarn copper deposits. Iron droplets, frequently found in the Late Bronze Age copper slag in the Ural-Kazakhstan region, are not directly related to iron metallurgy. They are by-products of the copper metallurgy formed in the process of copper extraction from the iron-rich components of the furnace charge or fluxes (brown iron ore, iron sulphides). The only artefacts that indicate direct smelting of metal from iron ore are the slag fragments from the Kent settlement. Presumably, oxidized martitized ore of the Kentobe skarn deposit or its nearby analogues was used to extract iron at the Kent settlement. Rare finds of iron slags from the Late Bronze Age, known only in the territory of Central Kazakhstan, confirm an extremely small scale of iron production. Iron ore had been already deliberately used for these experiments. However, iron metal-lurgy in the Ural-Kazakhstan region developed into a mature industry much later. The discovery of iron metallurgy based on the smelting of copper-sulphide ores in the Ural-Kazakhstan steppes is doubtful. The use of sulphide ores here is known from the 20th c. BC, and it was widespread. In the meantime, the first iron slags and products appear much later, and their finds are sporadic. The development of iron metallurgy on the basis of experiments with iron ores seems more likely.

The article deals with the problem of the appearance of the Sintashta architecture in the South Trans-Urals in the context of climatic events of the 3rd millennium BC. In terms of the main parameters: structure and layout (the presence of fences, close cluster planning), the Sintashta settlements fit into the Anatolian and Balkan-Carpathian traditions, although their specific incarnations depended on local conditions and resources. This circumstance suggests the migratory nature of the emergence of such a tradition in the Urals. This and other migrations are considered in the context of the paleoclimatic theory of Rapid Climatic Changes (RCC) identified by paleoclimatologists for the Holocene. The unfavorable climatic conditions of the 3rd millennium BC led to migrations and cultural changes. Cultural hybridization manifested in archaeological material was the one of signs of the Bronze Age in the 3rd millennium BC. It was due to a high degree of interaction between different groups of the population and the rapid spread of technological advances over wide areas. It is assumed that a new architectural principle was brought to the Southern Trans-Urals as a memory or image. Such movements could not be realized without an organizational component — the “elite”, who possessed military skills and knowledge in the field of wheeled transport. In the Southern Trans-Urals, the time represented by the Sintashta-Petrovka sites was the most favorable climatically (warm and moderately humid). Besides, that territory had rich resources. All this, not only allowed the new population to gain a foothold in the South Trans-Urals, but also spread further to the east and southeast.

The article presents preliminary results of the study of the Bronze Age settlement Konoplyanka 2 in the valley of the Karagaily-Ayat River (Kartaly district of the Chelyabinsk region). The materials demonstrate the manifestations of mobility that occurred in different chronological periods of the Late Bronze Age. Topical problems such as the existence of open villages in the South Trans-Urals in Sintashta time and the features of post-Sintashta age settlements are also investigated. The settlement consists of clusters formed by close or adjacent buildings with a linear planning principle. Line 1 consists of the rectangular structures of the Srubnaya (first phase) and Cherkaskul (second phase) cultures. Four wells located along the central axis were discovered in the excavated building. Line 2, with no external features, was discovered by geophysical studies. The building under study contained the Abashevo type ceramics and traces of metallurgy typical for the Sintashta and Abashevo cultures. Radiocarbon dates span an almost continuous interval from the 20th to the 16th century BC, in which the Abashevo claster occupies the earliest position, being partially synchronous with the earlier investigated fortified settlement of Konoplyanka, but not culturally related. The cluster of the Srubnaya-Cherkaskul houses is the latest. The article discusses the diachronic settling and issue of the eastwards spread of the Abashevo population, and the assimilation of the Trans-Urals by Srubnaya cultural complex population.

The paper presents the results of the study of ceramics of the Petrovka type from the collection of the fortified settlement of Kamenny Ambar. Analysis of morphological and ornamental characteristic allowed the author to distinguish eight typological groups. More than a half of the vessels are represented by wares of “classical” Petrovka appearance. The rest part of pottery besides the Petrovka traits demonstrates the features of other ceramic traditions of the Bronze Age (Sintashta, Alakul’, Early Srubnaya). The short term of the Petrovka phase of the settlement’s functioning enable us to suppose that all vessels were made and used relatively simultaneously. Thus, the analyzed sample reflects the process of changing of ceramic styles (from Sintashta to Alakul’), as well as the transformation of the Petrovka stereotypes under the influence of the Early Srubnaya ceramic tradition. These changes occurred very quickly, but at the same time they were not sharp. The obtained results allow the author to draw a conclusion about the complexity and extreme dynamism of cultural and genetic processes in the Southern Trans-Urals in the first third of the 2nd millennium BC.

В статье проанализированы 44 радиоуглеродные даты, полученные при изучении 18 колодцев разных периодов бронзового века на поселении Каменный Амбар в Южном Зауралье. На предварительном этапе работы были определены статистические выбросы, что повысило достоверность выводов. Фрагменты керамики из заполнения колодцев, контекстуальный анализ и результаты датирования позволили провести культурную атрибуцию почти всех объектов (31 из 34). Проанализированные структуры были разделены на четыре хроностратиграфические группы, соответствующие разным фазам застройки поселения. Статистически оценены их продолжительность и хронологические границы. Установлено, что большинство колодцев было сооружено в синташтинско-петровский период (плотная регулярная застройка в границах укреплений). Он включал три строительные фазы, наиболее поздняя из которых соотносится с петровской керамикой. Второй период (хаотичное расположение отдельных сооружений) связан со срубно-алакульскими древностями и представлен всего четырьмя колодцами. Результаты моделирования позволяют заключить, что история поселения насчитывает менее полутора веков, включая непродолжительный хронологический разрыв между двумя периодами. Синташтинская (фазы 1 и 2) и петровская (фаза 3) традиции в рамках первого периода развивались последовательно и, вероятно, частично синхронны в поздней части. В срубно-алакульский период (фаза 4) наблюдается трансформация архитектурной традиции, модификация схемы расположения и конструкции колодцев.