Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Turkiyat Mecmuasi, cilt.34, sa.2, ss.659-684, 2024 (Scopus, TRDizin)
The Altai region is a significant territory in the history of Early or Proto-Turkic metallurgy. Understanding the origins of iron production in the Altai and identifying production centers are key challenges in reconstructing the region’s metallurgical history. Since 2019, the East Kazakhstan Archaeological Expedition, led by Prof. Dr. Zainolla Samashev, has been excavating the Akbauyr archaeological complex, located in the western foothills of the Altai Mountains. This site lies between the villages of Sagyr and Besterek in the Ulan district of East Kazakhstan Province, on the western slopes of the Korzhynbay Mountains. The excavation aims to explore early metallurgical practices and mining activities in the region. Fieldwork has revealed that Akbauyr functioned as both a production center, with workshops for mineral extraction and processing, and a large settlement divided into eight distinct neighborhoods. These areas supported animal husbandry, agriculture, and craft production, including ceramic kilns and metallurgical workshops. Notable finds include stone tools such as agricultural hoes, mining pickaxes, and shovels, as well as crucibles and molds for mineral processing and casting. Approximately 99% of the ceramic finds at Akbauyr date to the early Iron Age, with about 1% from the late Bronze Age. Based on these findings, the settlement is dated to the early Iron Age, around the 10th–8th centuries BC. Elemental analysis of slag samples, conducted using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), has confirmed Akbauyr as the oldest identified iron production center in the Altai region. This article presents the preliminary results of excavations conducted between 2019 and 2023 and highlights their significance for understanding the Early or Proto-Turkic history of metallurgy.