Southern Federal University, Institute of Earth Sciences, Rostov-on-Don, Russia:

V. G. Rylov, Associate Professor, Candidate of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, e-mail: rylov@sfedu.ru

Rostov State Medical University, Department of History, Rostov-on-Don, Russia:
N. E. Rylova, Associate Professor, Candidate of Historical Sciences

This paper describes the results of a study that looked at the copper-zinc alloy discovered during excavation works at the site of the ancient Scythian Elizavetovsk settlement on the Don (late 1st quarter of 5th century BC — 1st third of 3rd century BC) as impregnated high-zinc brass found in the slag filler of a ceramic censer. The comparative analysis of the microstructure and elemental composition of the copper-zinc impurities found in the ceramic item and in the items made by local steel makers was carried out by the laboratory of the Southern Federal University with the help of a scanning electron microscope and an energy dispersive mass-spectrometer. Polished microsections were used for the analysis which were obtained from the dumped remains of a foundry (Dig Site No. XXXVI). The obtained data indicate that the composition of the dumped material of the Elizavetovsk settlement appears to be close to arsenious lead-tin bronze with high concentrations of antimony, gold and silver, as is the case with the majority of ceremonial items discovered at the closest burial sites. At the time the local foundry men did not know how to make brass, which is suggested by an absolute lack of zinc in the metal processing cycle. Analysis of experimental data and archeological sources suggests that the brass of the Elizavetovsk settlement has an allochthonous nature, and the corresponding production process (based on recovery of zinc from hemimorphite (calamine) on a burning hot copper surface) had been known of in the South-Siberian Mining and Metallurgical Region, Trans-Baikal Region, Mongolia and China long before it became widely spread in Egypt and Central and Western Europe.
This research project was funded by the Southern Federal University.

1. Gulyaev V. I. Scythians from the Northern Black Sea Region in 7^th–4^th centuries BC (old problems – new solutions). Moscow : IA RAN, 2018. 1006 p.
2. Zhitnikov V. G. On the bronze industry of the Elizavetovsk settlement on the Don. Sovetskaya arkheologiya. 1989. No. 2. pp. 153–168.
3. Karabasov Yu. S., Chernousov P. I., Korotchenko N. A., Golubev O. V. Metallurgy and time: Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. Ancient world and early Middle Ages. Moscow : Izdatelskiy Dom MISiS, 2014. 224 p.
4. Kopylov V. P., Rylov V. G., Kovalenko A. N. The house of a steel maker (4^th century BC) at the Elizavetovsk settlement on the Don. Antiquities of Eastern Europe. Research papers marking the 90^th birthday of B. A. Shramko. Kharkov : KhNU im. V. N. Karazina, 2011. pp. 179–187.
5. Popov Yu. V., Dedulkin A. V. Electron probe analysis of archeological metals: sources of error and measuring practices. Geoarkheologiya i arkheologicheskaya mineralogiya. 2017. No. 4. pp. 170–173.
6. Archaeometallurgy in Global perspective: Methods and Syntheses. Ed. B. W. Roberts, C. P. Thornton. New York, Heidelberg, Dordrecht, London : Springer, 2015. 868 p.
7. Betekhtin A. G. Mineralogy. Moscow : Gosgeolizdat, 1950. 956 p.
8. On the status and use of mineral resources of the Russian Federation in 2016 and 2017 : State Report. Moscow : MPRiE RF, 2018. 207 p. Available at: http://www.mineral.ru/Analytics/state Report/index.html.
9. Popov Yu. V., Rylov V. G. The composition of the bronze industry waste from the ancient Scythian Elizavetovsk settlement as suggested by the electron probe microscopy and microanalysis data. Uspekhi sovremennogo estestvoznaniya. 2015. No. 1, Part 1. pp. 110–114.
10. Ivanov V. N. Reference book on foundry processes. 2nd edition. Moscow : Mashinostroenie, 2001. 460 p.
11. Burmeister S., Hansen S., Kunst M., Muller-Scheefsel N. Metal Matters: Innovative Technologies and Social Change in Prehistory and Antiquity. Rahden : Verlag Marie Leidorf, 2013. 282 p.
12. Lucas A. Ancient Egyptian materials and industries. Third edition, revised. London, 1948. 747 p.
13. 30-Second Ancient Rome: The 50 Most Important Achievements of a Timeless Civilization, Each Explained in Half a Minute. Ed. M. Nicholls. East Sussex : Ivy Press, 2014. 160 p.
14. Doonan R. C. Metals, Society and Economy in the Late Prehistorie Eurasian. Ed. Roberts B., Thornton C. Arhaeometallurgy in Global perspective. New York, Heidelberg, Dordrecht, London : Springer, 2014. pp. 755–784.

15. Khavrin S. V., Chugunova K. S. Ancient brass: The problems of origin, distribution and interpretation. Proceedings of the conference “Comprehensive Study of Ancient and Traditional Societies of Eurasia” commemorating the 120^th birthday of S. I. Rudenko. Saint Petersburg : Ermitazh, 2004. Available at: http://textarchive.ru/c-2429018.html.
16. Сraddock P. T. The composition of the copper alloys used by the Greek, Etruscan and Roman civilizations. The origin and early use of brass. JAS. 1985. Vol. 5. pp. 1–16.
17. Zhou Weirong. The emergence and development of brass smelting techniques in China. Bulletin of the Metals. Metals Museum. 2001. Vol. 34. pp. 87–99.
18. Vasilkov Ya. V. The Ancient Indian mirrors from the Scythian-Sarmatian burial mounds of Altay and the Southern Urals Region. Eurasian steppes in ancient and medieval times. Saint Petersburg, 2002. pp. 28–31.
19. Archeology of Western Siberia and Altay: The practice of cross-disciplinary studies. Research papers ed. by A. A. Tishin marking the 70th birthday of professor Yu. F. Kiryushin. Barnaul : Izdatelstvo Altayskogo gosuniversiteta, 2015. 416p.
20. Troitskaya T. N., Galibin V. A. The results of quantitative spectral analysis of items from the early iron age of the Novosibirsk Ob Region. Ancient miners and steel makers of Siberia. Barnaul : Izdatelstvo Altayskogo gosuniversiteta, 1983. pp. 35–47.
21. Sergeeva N. F. The ancient metallurgy of copper in the south of Eastern Siberia. Novosibirsk, 1981. 152 p.
22. Degtyareva F. D., Kostomarova Yu. V. The metals of the late bronze age found in the Tobol forest-steppe region. Vestnik Arheologii, Antropologii i Etnografii. 2011. No. 1 (14). pp. 30–45.
23. Research papers of the 5^th (21^st) Russian National Archeological Convention marking the 180^th birthday of V. V. Radlov. Ed. by A. P. Derevyanko, A. A. Tishkin. Barnaul : Izdatelstvo Altayskogo gosuniversiteta, 2017. 1207 p.
24. O’Brien W. Prehistorie Copper Mining in Europe, 5500 – 500 BC. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2014. 368 p.