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Bronze Age Metallurgy in the Middle Volga. In The Samara Valley Project: A Bronze Age Landscape in the Russian Steppes, edited by D. Anthony, D. Brown, A. Khokhlov, P. Kuznetsov, and O. Mochalov, pp. 291-332. Los Angeles: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA. Authors: David Peterson, Peter Northover, Chris Salter, Blanca Maldonado, and David Anthony.
Abstract
This project began with a survey in the Kamyshla district of northeastern Samara, which uncovered evidence for copper mining in the fifteenth century BC. As a result, it is now the only area in Samara besides Mikhailovka-Ovsianka where copper mining is known to have occurred in the Bronze Age. In addition, we performed chemical and microstructural analysis of third and second millennium BC metal artifacts that were collected through previous archaeological excavations, for knowledge of the materials, practices, and interactions associated with early metal making in the middle Volga. This has been especially successful for the Middle Bronze Age II period of the Sintashta-Potapovka-Filitovka horizon (MBA II, 2100-1850 BC) to which most of the objects belong. Recently, there have been new findings for a small but important group of ornaments made with electrum (gold + silver) dating to the Early Srubnaya-Pokrovka stage of the Late Bronze Age, or LBA I, circa 1850 to 1700 BC. These ornaments are from burials that are roughly contemporary with the primary occupation of the Krasnosamarskoe and Peschanyi Dol settlements and therefore have special relevance to the Samara Valley Project.
... Injury risks to those interacting with herds are well documented (Ball et al., 2007;Barber, 1973;Bj€ ornstig, Eriksson, & € Ornehult, 1991;Chitnavis, Gibbons, Hirigoyen, Parry, & Simpson, 1996;Criddle, 2001;Erkal, Gerberich, Ryan, Alexander, & Renier, 2009; and many more), yet there were no injuries typical of mauling, kicking, riding or maintaining herd animals. It has been suggested that copper smelting was a common activity at KA-5 and other Samara Valley sites (Epimakhov, 2002(Epimakhov, , 2005Epimakhov & Berseneva, 2016;Koryakova & Epimakhov, 2007;Peterson, Northover, Salter, Maldonado, & Anthony, 2016), and inhalation of arsenic particles produced may have been deleterious to community health. Aside from two cases of sinusitis at KA-5, there was no additional evidence for a skeletal response to respiratory infection typical of prolonged exposure to fumes (e.g., Merrett & Pfeiffer, 2000;Roberts, 2007;Roberts, Lucy, & Manchester, 1994). ...
Objectives
We tested the hypothesis that the purported unstable climate in the South Urals region during the Middle Bronze Age (MBA) resulted in health instability and social stress as evidenced by skeletal response.
Methods
The skeletal sample (n = 99) derived from Kamennyi Ambar 5 (KA‐5), a MBA kurgan cemetery (2040‐1730 cal. BCE, 2 sigma) associated with the Sintashta culture. Skeletal stress indicators assessed included cribra orbitalia, porotic hyperostosis, dental enamel hypoplasia, and tibia periosteal new bone growth. Dental disease (caries, abscess, calculus, and periodontitis) and trauma were scored. Results were compared to regional data from the nearby Samara Valley, spanning the Early to Late Bronze Age (EBA, LBA).
Results
Lesions were minimal for the KA‐5 and MBA‐LBA groups except for periodontitis and dental calculus. No unambiguous weapon injuries or injuries associated with violence were observed for the KA‐5 group; few injuries occurred at other sites. Subadults (<18 years) formed the majority of each sample. At KA‐5, subadults accounted for 75% of the sample with 10% (n = 10) estimated to be 14‐18 years of age.
Conclusions
Skeletal stress markers and injuries were uncommon among the KA‐5 and regional groups, but a MBA‐LBA high subadult mortality indicates elevated frailty levels and inability to survive acute illnesses. Following an optimal weaning program, subadults were at risk for physiological insult and many succumbed. Only a small number of individuals attained biological maturity during the MBA, suggesting that a fast life history was an adaptive regional response to a less hospitable and perhaps unstable environment.
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