“Caster’s Cache” from Tartas-1, Late Krotovo (Cherno-Ozerye) Culture, Baraba Forest-Steppe
“Caster’s Cache” from Tartas-1, Late Krotovo (Cherno-Ozerye) Culture, Baraba Forest-Steppe
DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2016.44.3.079-086
V.I. Molodin1, 2, I.A. Durakov1, and L.S. Kobeleva1, 2 1Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia 2Novosibirsk State University, Pirogova 2, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia
A “caster’s cache” discovered at Tartas-1 cemetery in the Baraba forest-steppe is described, and compared with other similar fi nds. Caches are very rare in Siberia. Because descriptions are incomplete, their total number is unknown. The Tartas-1 “cache” was found in a rectangular pit close to Late Krotovo (Cherno-Ozerye) burials. The infi ll of the pit contained a mandible; part of a scapula and an incisor from a horse; a rib-fragment and fragments of the cranium of a cow; and potsherds from at least three vessels. The “cache” consisted of fi fteen items: a whetstone, a bone arrowhead, two copper ingots, a fragment of a bracelet with a spiral end, a bronze needle, six fl uted cylindrical beads, and three bronze knife-like pendants. Parallels to each artifact are discussed. Especially noteworthy are standard copper ingots that were used for storing and transporting metal during trade operations. Evidently, metal items in this “cache” were laid in for future use in manufacture or trade. The “c ache” might have been ritual as well. All its items are typical of Late Krotovo (Cherno-Ozerye) culture of early or mid-2nd millennium BC.
Keywords: Western Siberia, Baraba forest-steppe, Bronze Age, Late Krotovo culture, cemetery, cache.
