The bronze age Ishkinovka archaeological micro-region: structure, periodization, chronology

In the Ural region of Mugodzhary in the Late Bronze Age there functioned a powerful centre of mining and metallurgy. A series of archaeological micro-regions formed by dense clusters of sites entered this structure. The sites of different types were related to the ancient mines discovered in the zones of copper ore deposits. Complex investigations carried out in the Ishkinovka archaeological micro-region (the eastern part of Orenburg region) revealed a settlement, a cluster of cemeteries, surface finds, a series of geo-archaeological production sites (copper mines). Burial associations of the Early Bronze Age Pit-grave culture and Sintashta culture dating from the turn of the Middle and Late Bronze Ages were investigated. The majority of sites date from the Late Bronze Age; they represent a single complex, which functioned as a regional economic and cultural focus based on the combination of mining and metallurgy with shift stock-breeding.