Results of the geoarchaeological study of the bronze age layer at the settlement Pesochnoe 1

The Pesochnoe 1 settlement (Rostov district, Yaroslavl Region) was excavated in 2000 and 2008. The total excavated area is 152 sq. m. In 2008 samples were taken from excavation pit No. 3 for soil, palinological, dendrological analyses (around 350 samples) and radiocarbon dating (33 samples). Bronze Age archaeological finds (attributed to the Textile Pottery culture and the Chirkovskaya culture) were unearthed throughout the entire thickness of the occupation layer in the excavated section of the site. Constructions from the Bronze Age such as hearths, domestic refuse pits, postholes and one inhumation burial were found in different lithological layers and natural soil. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis revealed a very high content of copper, zinc, calcium and phosphorus in the occupation layer not previously identified at prehistoric sites. These chemical elements which ended up in the occupation layer had originated from different sources. Copper is associated with metalworking at the site in the Bronze Age...