Non-Ferrous and Precious Metal Items from the Burials of the Beslan Catacomb Burial Ground: Results of an Analytical Study

The collection of non-ferrous and precious metal objects from the second and third quarters of the 4th and the second half of the 6th/early 7th centuries AD, originating from the excavations of the Beslan kurgan catacomb burial ground, was studied using the methods of XRF, SEM and MCICP-MS analysis of the Pb isotopic composition in parts of a silver belt set. In the burials of the second and third quarters of the 4th century there are objects made from high-leaded tin bronze, a multicomponent lead alloy, copper and a silver alloy of conventional 810 fineness. The burials of the second half of the 6th – 7th centuries contain objects made of silver alloy of standard 840 fineness, copper coated with gold-silver foil (lined with a low-melting alloy), high-zinc two-component brass, tin and tin-lead bronze with a high tin content. The use of white paste (SnPb) on the back of the embossed plate items of the belt set dates back to the same period. The nomenclature of metals and alloys from the Beslan burial ground, in general, does not stand out among the synchronous samples. The isotopic composition of Pb in silver parts of the belt sets showed that for the early period (4th century), the source of silver mining may be associated with the ore deposits located within the borders of the Sassanid Empire; for the late period (6th – 7th centuries), the use of scrap precious metal from several sources is typical, including the use of late Roman silver, the ore sources of which were deposits of the Carpathian region.