The Late Bronze Age settlement and burial ground of Sandyktau (preliminary research results)

Abstract

Materials of the settlement of the Bronze Age Sandyktau and synchronous monuments located in its district
— mine openings and two burial grounds are being published. The monument is located 2.2 km south of the
Sandyktau mountain range, 1.5 km southeast of the village of Petrovka in the Sandyktau district of the Akmola
region. It occupies a cape on the high left bank of the Zhabai River. 22 pits from household and outbuildings
were recorded in the settlement. The pits are organized into four linear structures oriented along the
northwest–southeast axis. The largest pits are concentrated in the northern part of the settlement. The area of
the monument is 130×325 m². Numerous fragments of ceramic vessels and other remains of the life of the ancient
population are found throughout the entire area of the settlement on the modern surface. An excavation
with an area of 12 × 12 m was laid on pit No. 8. The cultural layer in the settlement was plowed up to 30 cm.
Fragments of Sargarin-Alekseyev ceramics are found everywhere in it, which determine the cultural affiliation
and chronology of the site. In this layer, slags and fragments of copper products were found — byproducts
of copper smelting, as well as animal bones. In the vicinity of the settlement, as a result of additional
exploration work, two emergency burial grounds of the late Bronze Age and a group of mine openings for
granite and ore were identified. The settlement and its environs are promising for studying the problems of
history, culture and metal production of the population of Northern Kazakhstan of the Late Bronze Age.