Bronze "Scythian" Cauldrons from the Village of Dzerzhinskoye (Tomsk Region)

Bronze cauldrons are one of the most significant artifacts of the Scythian-Siberian world. In Western Siberia, they are known in the areas of Gorokhovo, Sargat, Bolsherechye (Kamenka), and Kulay cultures. They were found in settlements, burial and ritual sites. However, most of them were found by chance. Two cauldrons were found in a garden in the village of Dzerzhinskoye. The aim of this article is to introduce these findings into scientific use. Both cauldrons are on a conical tray, with vertical handles, with ornaments on their bodies: three rows of rollers on one of them and two rows of a twisted cord ending with a loop on the other one. One of the cauldrons has a horizontal casting seam, the other one - a vertical seam. The described features suggest that both cauldrons are of the Minusinsk type and were cast within the Tagar culture. These cauldrons were found together. Inside the cauldron with an oval handle were several iron items: an arrow head, two knives, a share, and adze. There also were three bronze items: anthropomorphous image and two plates. Both iron and bronze things belong to the Middle Ages. The cauldrons were used a second time. The time when they were delivered to the Tomsk Ob Region is unknown, mainly due to the fact that one of the cauldrons contained some iron objects dated back to the Middle Ages. The fact that the population of the Tomsk Ob Region used bronze cauldrons is supported by the finding from a ritual site at the mouth of the Malaya Kirgizka River. Here, the cauldron was the key object for ritual actions. Researchers made several assumptions about the purpose of cauldrons in the early Iron Age. We believe that Yu. V. Balakin has provided the most complete answer to this question. With regard to the early Iron Age, the following functions of bronze cauldrons can be noted: they often determine the social status (when found in burial sites), are associated with the idea of fertility, act as a mediator in ritual actions, act as a link between humans and spirits, help to establish links between the worlds, have the cosmic status and protective functions.

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