Yu.B. Serikov

The Tagil Transurals refers to the territory between the cities of Verkhnyaya Tura and Verkhny Tagil, stretching for approximately 110 km. In this region, 22 objects representing “ironings” were discovered on six lakes and one river. The purpose of the publication is to introduce previously unexplored aspects of the use of “ironings” in ancient times to the scientifi c community. The number of “ironings” on sites varies from one to eight. Most of the “ironings” were found on Shaitanskoye (Shaitanskoye Lake I – 8 items) and Yuryinskoye (Koksharovsky Hill – 7 items) lakes. Two “ironings” were found each on Ayatskoye Lake (Shaidurikhinskoye V) and Gorbunovsky peat bog (6th section). One item comes from each Shigirskoye Lake (Skvortsovskaya Mountain V) and Poludensky peat bog (Poludenka I). Their study showed that, despite the presence of numerous archaeological sites on the shores of these lakes (from 14 to 53), “ironings” were found on only one of them. The only river site (Evstyunikha I) has a clearly expressed cult character, which may have been the reason for the presence of the “ironings” in its complex. Based on the dated housing and cult complexes, it was possible to identify features that are characteristic only of Neolithic “ironings”. A distinctive feature of clay “ironings” is their rounded (without corners) outlines. The stone “ironings” in longitudinal section have the shape of isosceles triangles with truncated corners and a small width (from 2.4 to 3.3 cm). Moreover, their height almost always exceeds the height of the Eneolithic “ironings”. Of the 22 “ironings”, only seven items were found in the debris. Considering the prevalence of broken “ironings” over whole ones in the area of their distribution, it can be assumed that their destruction into pieces was part of a certain ritual. The “innovation” proposed by I.V. Usacheva about using “ironings” to straighten reed arrow shafts is not supported by the available materials on a number of positions. According to this model, “ironings” should be present at every archaeological site, which is not supported by the facts. This model also does not explain the presence of ten or more “ironings” in a number of sites. In addition, in the Urals, arrow shafts were made of straight-grained wood (pine), which is confi rmed by numerous fi nds in the Ural peat bogs. All the various hypotheses about the utilitarian use of “ironings” should have been abandoned long ago. “Ironings” were originally sacred objects. Their original purpose lost its meaning over time and was forgotten. And like all sorts of incomprehensible and mysterious objects, “ironings” began to be perceived as sacred signs that were used in various ancient rituals. This explains the fi nds of “ironings” in sanctuaries, dwellings, burials and hoards.