New finds of bronze sickles of the Late Bronze Age from the Altai Steppe

A series of finds of specific bronze archaeological objects interpreted as sickles has been reported from the territory of the steppe Altai; these objects are important markers for the reconstruction of the subsistence strategy. At present, it has been established that these items are localized within the Kulunda Plain and are culturally associated with the materials of the settlement complexes of the Sargarinsko-Alekseevsky and Begazy-Dandybaevsky cultures. The paper describes the find of a bronze sickle from the settlement of Burla I in the Khabarsky District of the Altai Province. The object belongs to the type of Derbedenevsky bronze sickles, which are characterized by a curved back, a straight blade and a hook on the heel. Morphological and typological parallels ofsuch artifacts are widely knownfrom metallurgical centers and regions ofthe Urals, Kazakhstan, the North Pontic and the Volga region, they are distinguished by a wide and slightly curved blade, an asymmetrical back, and the transition to the hook is represented by a slight bevel or ledge. Many researchers consider this type of bronze products as an integral part ofthe metal complex of «roller ceramics cultures» (according to E.N. Chernykh); finds ofsuch sickles are associated with the Sargary-Alekseevskaya and Begazy-Dandybaevskaya ceramics in the steppe Altai. The time of emergence of the objects of this type is related to the time of existence of the «sites of the Burlin type» no later than the 15th-13th centuries. BC. The presented sickles indicate the constant interrelations between the population of the region and the tribes from western regions, which was manifested in the unity of the bronze metal complex; such finds have not been recorded in the complexes of the Irmen culture of the forest-steppe Altai.