X-ray fluorescence studies of the Bronze Age hoard (north of the Tarkhankut peninsula, Northwestern Crimea)

In 2015 a hoard of metal tools dating to the Bronze Age was discovered in the northern part of the Tarkhankut Peninsula 2,3 km northwest of the northern outskirts of the village of Vladimirovka (former Bay-Kiyat). In January 2023, an X-ray fluorescence study of the alloy composition of the tools from the hoard was carried out. Almost all items, with the exception of one tool were made of two-component arsenic bronze with a small amount of arsenic (average 1,78 %). Only a rod-shaped tool with a forged upper part and a pointed lower part (chisel or adze) was made of triple arsenic-nickel bronze containing 3,1 % arsenic and 1,56 % nickel. The cultural and typological analysis of objects from the hoard, along with the interpretation of the data on the composition of their alloy suggests that the found items are close to the artifacts of the Maykop-Novosvobodnaya community from the North Caucasus and can be dated to the Early Bronze Age. Based on the dating and location of the hoard, it can be assumed that it can be attributed to the Yamnaya or Kemi-Oba cultures.