Metals and mining
While the sites excavated during the project were by no means rich in metal, they did consistently yield copper ore and slag. A scatter of small fragments of slag and ore was found at the northeastern end of the KS structure, away from the well. Only a few small copper or bronze tool fragments were found in the KS structure: an awl, a small staple, and two unidentifiable pieces of copper. A preliminary analysis of the awl was performed by David Peterson at the University of Chicago, using a JEOL 5800LV scanning electron microscope (SEM) with an Oxford Link/ISIS EDX system. |
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| The awl was composed of unalloyed copper; its purity may indicate a pre-Ural cupric sandstone ore, perhaps from Mikhailovka-Ovsianka or a number of small sources in the Kamyshla raion in the southern or northeastern Samara Oblast respectively (Chernykh 1970: 48-49; Peterson et al. forthcoming). The metal in the staple fragment has a golden color suggestive of tin bronze. Staples of this sort are known to have been used to repair ceramics in the region during the LBA. Bronze may have been chosen rather than copper for the purpose of display. |  |
| Most surprising was the discovery of copper slag at PD2, a small herding camp. The slags from KS and PD2 are relatively dense and have the green patina of oxidized copper, so probably were byproducts of an activity such as casting and forging rather than smelting. Copper and ore were being carried around in small chunks and worked in a very dispersed manner at the KS settlement and even at herding camps. |  |
| This suggests that ores were worked as needed in small quantities at many locations. A significant amount of metal production might have occurred in small metalworking operations scattered throughout the LBA landscape, rather than being limited to central metallurgical centers located exclusively in ore-bearing regions, which is one current interpretation. |  |