New finds metal tools of the Bronze Age on the territory of forest-steppe along the Don

Several Bronze Age hoards are known on the territory of the forest-steppe along the Don River dating to the Catacomb and Timber-grave (Srubna) cultures of the Middle and Late Bronze Age. A new collection of bronze tools from the hoard near the village of Novo-georgievka of Olkhovatsky district in the Voronezh administrative region (the right bank of the Don River) includes three metal items: an axe, a celt and a sickle. The collection of perforated metal axes of the Paleometal epoch in the forest-steppe along the Don River consists of 18 items, including the Novogeorgievsky finding. When observed with a microscope, the blade of the axe from the Novogeorgievsky hoard demonstrates linear traces of sharpening on the artefact, as well as small linear traces from working wood. Parallel traces of sharpening the axe were left by fine-grained stone abrasive. Morphological features of axes found in the villages of Divnogorye and Bolshie Alabukhi, similar to the Novogeorgievsky one, correspond to the form of the imprints of bivalve molds found in the settlements of the Don forest-steppe Timber-grave (Srubna) culture (Mosolovsky, Vogresovsky, the Black Lake), which indicates that they were produced locally. In the forest-steppe along the Don River, there are 13 celts known relating to seven typological categories, according to the classification of E.N. Chernykh. A new finding of the celt is added to the K-52 typological category, which includes 6 items. The blade of the celt from the Novogeorgievsky hoard is polished on both sides. There are traces of sharpening on fine-grained stone abrasive, as well as some small linear traces from working wood. The collection of metal sickles from the territory of the forest-steppe along the Don River consists of 18 items, including the Novogeorgievsky finding. The curved blade of the sickle-chopper was made by means of spreading the billet in the longitudinal-transverse direction, which led to concavity of both profiles. Traces of forging are also present on the heel and hook of the sickle-chopper. Morphologically, a sickle-chopper is included in the final typological series of S-16, which, according to E.N. Chernykh, was produced by the masters of the Zavadovo-Loboykovskiy center of metalworking dating to the Late Bronze Age. Until now, the problems of localizing the production of bronze tools found, among other places, in the Novogeorgievsky hoard, remain unresolved. There is no doubt that wedge axes were produced locally. At the same time, the origin of celts (in the Don forest-steppe there are two known findings of molds) and sickle-choppers (molds unknown) within the Don forest-steppe remain questionable. It is not inconceivable that representatives of new-coming ethnic groups created the Novogergievsky hoard of metal tools dating to the Late Bronze Age in the forest-steppe along the Don River. They got into the southern areas of the Don forest-steppe during the period of the decrease in the economic and production activity of the local population of the Timber-grave (Srubna) culture.

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