METALLURGICAL SLAGS AND ORE FRAGMENTS FROM THE KAMENNY AMBAR BRONZE AGE SETTLEMENT (SOUTHERN URALS): A KEY TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF COPPER SOURCES
Abstract
The paper presents the characteristics of metallurgical slags and copper ore fragments from the Kamenny Ambar settlement of the Bronze Age. According to the mineral and chemical compositions we have distinguished two types of the slags: Cr-rich spinel containing olivine slags and sulfide-containing olivine slags. The Cr-rich spinel containing olivine slags are the product of oxidized ore from the copper deposits in ultramafic rocks exploited in the early Sintashta-Petrovka period the settlement functioning. The sulfide-containing olivine slags are the result of the secondary sulfide ores from the massive-sulfide, and less likely copper porphyry deposits during the latter Srubnaya-Alakul period. A similar change in the copper ore raw material type was also recorded in other Bronze Age settlements in the Southern Urals. In the Kamenny Ambar settlement and analogs, we have defined the main indicating minerals which allow us to determine the source for the Cu raw metal in historical time: Cr-rich spinels, sulfides, and tourmalines.
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