From the late bronze age settlement Panagia 1 (Taman peninsula): interdisciplinary study

The paper introduces into scientific discourse an assemblage of two sickles (one intact sickle and the other preserved in a fragment) found at the Panagia 1 settlement in the Taman peninsula and describes their characteristics. This unique assemblage is the second hoard comprising items from the Kuban Late Bronze Age metal-producing focus that has been reliably recorded in the settlement occupation layer. The intact sickle from the hoard was bent in half, with its two parts compressed together forming a narrow space into which the fragment of the second sickle was placed. Such manner of sickle bending is known in the Kuban metal production focus; notably, it is typical for the early group of the focus assemblages. The intact sickle provides important evidence for sickles with a smoothly and symmetrically curved back and a low arch that were spread not only on the early stage of the Kuban metal production focus known as the Akhmetovskaya stage but also on the Udobnaya stage. The latter stage is contemporary with the late Sabatinovka culture. The elemental composition of the sickle alloy has been studied using the reference-free X-ray fluorescence analysis. It has been shown that the sickles were made of copper containing a small amount of arsenic (around 1,5 %). Such alloys are characteristic of the Kuban metal production in the Late Bronze Age.