UDC 903

SHAITAN LAKE II: NEW SUBJECTS IN THE STUDY OF THE URAL BRONZE AGE*

The article introduces the materials of the cult monument Shaitanskoe Ozero II, discovered in the Sverdlovsk region. In two excavations of less than 100m2, more than 130 bronze objects were found: tools and weapons, ornaments made of sheet copper, as well as numerous waste products from smelting and casting. In addition to the products of the Seimin-Turbinsky (Celts and plate knives) and Eurasian (daggers with cast handles, knives with crosshairs and interception, grooved bracelets and rings) types, the collection includes a series of items made in the traditions of Samus-Kizhirov metalworking. Bronze products, along with stone knives, scrapers and numerous arrowheads, were accompanied by Koptyakov-type ceramics. The metal collection is based on tin bronzes. The monument to some extent clarifies the fate of the Seimin-Turbine traditions of metalworking, which in this zone had a longer history of development and did not end with the period of rapid migrations of the Seimin-Turbine populations. He also explains the sources of getting into the environment of carriers of the Alakul culture of products of the post-Seymian appearance, which may be associated with the functioning of a large metalworking center in the Middle Urals.

Keywords: Bronze Age, Ural Mountains, Seiminsko-Turbinsky phenomenon, Samussko-Kizhirovskaya metalworking, Koptyakov culture, place of worship.

Introduction

One of the main and, perhaps, the most striking signs of the late Bronze Age onset in the territory to the east and west of the Urals is the Seimin-Turbinsky type metal inventory, which is characteristic in terms of manufacturing technology, morphological features and alloy formulation. Most of the Seimin-Turbine bronzes were found in large necropolises (Preobrazhenka-6, Rostovka, Satyga, Turbino, Ust-Vetluga, Seima and Reshnoye), in small and conditional burial grounds (Verkhnyaya Mulga, Elunino I, Tsygankova Sopka, Sopka-2, Bor-Lenva, Ust-Gaiva, Murziha-1 Sokolovka, Nikolskoye, Khangaskankaala near Oulu in Finland, etc.) and monuments of sacred or religious significance (Kaninskaya cave, Galichsky "treasure") in the forest-steppe and taiga regions of the West Siberian and Russian Plains (Fig. 1). In the steppe zone of the Southern Urals, at the same time, monuments of Abashev and Sintashta native speakers are widely distributed. cultural traditions, whose metalworking was based on the morphological and technological standards of the Circumpontan Metallurgical Province of the early and Middle Stages of the Bronze Age (Chernykh et al., 2002).

The exceptional rarity of Seimin-Turbinsky-type products in the Middle Trans-Urals and adjacent regions of Western Siberia is not satisfactorily explained. For this reason, the mechanisms of including mountain-forest and taiga crops of the Ural region in the system of the Late Bronze Age Eurasian Metallurgical province remain unclear. The situation is aggravated by the fact that no archaeological formations have been identified in the forest Trans-Urals that could be convincingly synchronized with the Abashev-Sintashta and Seimin-Turbinsky ones.

* This work was supported by RGNF grants, projects N 06-01-00037a, 08-01-00073a and 08-06-00136a.

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Figure 1. Map-layout of the Seiminsko-Turbinsky (A) and Samussko-Kizhirovsky (B) types of monuments.

1-Berezovaya Luka; 2-Tsygankova Sopka; 3 - Elunino; 4-Samus IV; 5-Sopka-2; 6-Rostovka; 7-Chernoozerye VI; 8-Saigatino VI; 9-Andreevskoe Lake; 10-Satyga XVI; 11-Tovkurtlor-3; 12-Argazi; 13 - Palatki I; 14-Shaitanskoe Lake II; 15 - Kaninskaya cave; 16 - Turbino; 17 - Bor-Lenva; 18 - Ust-Gaiva; 19 - Ust-Vetluzhsky (Yurinsky); 20 - Seyminsky; 21-Reshnoye.

ancient sites and thus be nominated for the status of Early Bronze Age cultures. Mainly ceramic materials of the Karasieozero (Chairkina, 2005, p.195, 297) and Elizavetinsky (Panina, 2004) types can be taken into account with considerable assumptions due to their small number and lack of reliable stratigraphic data. It should be noted that it has not yet been established when the development of numerous copper ore deposits in the Middle Urals began.

The absence of cultural and chronological reference points is also typical for the post-Seimian period, up to the time of the formation of the Andronoid Cherkaskulian culture in the Urals. In fact, the only formation that fills this gap is the Koptyakov culture, identified in the 1960s by K. V. Salnikov [1964, pp. 7-10]. For a long time, it was considered as a low-power association of the local mountain-forest population, which experienced a certain impact from its southern neighbors. Due to the fact that the source fund of this culture was formed slowly and haphazardly, its content characteristics did not differ in concreteness and completeness. The results of excavations of the Palatki I monument near Yekaterinburg (Viktorova, 1999, 2001) significantly changed the view of the Koptyakov culture.

On the area of this multi-layered monument, which is extremely rich in archaeological remains, several burials and a dwelling of the Koptyakov culture have been studied. The Koptyakov complex includes items made of bronze, including a fragment of a celt and a knife-dagger, ornamented in the characteristic Samus-Kizhirov style, as well as a fragment of a mold for casting a similar dagger (Chernykh and Kuzminykh, 1989, Fig. 65, 6; 79, 7; Viktorova, 2001, Fig. 5, 77; Kuzminykh, 2001]. In addition, it includes stone tools and a representative series of ceramics, which significantly supplemented the impression of Koptyakov dishes, formed by the works of K. V. Salnikov, M. F. Kosarev, L. P. Khlobystin. If earlier it was perceived as post-Ayat ware with more or less pronounced signs of pottery of the Andronovo world cultures (primarily Alakul and partly Fedorovskaya), now it includes a group of vessels decorated in a specific grooved and drawn manner, which correlates with the local, Ural, ceramic tradition (Viktorova, 2001).. Refinement of the appearance of Koptyakov-type ceramics made it possible to attribute similar materials from other places in the Urals and Western Siberia (Denisov and Melnichuk, 1991; Stefanov and Korochkova, 2000; Zakh and Skochina, 2006) and to map out the area of the culture: in the latitudinal direction, it extended from the Middle Kama Region to the Lower part of the Volga Region, in the meridional direction - from Nizhny Tagil to Kyshtym the lake district. The core of the culture, judging by the concentration of monuments, was localized in the Middle Trans-Urals. However, despite the discovery of striking bronze objects and molds on the Palatki I monument and relatively active research of Koptyakov antiquities in the Tyumen region (Zakh and Ivanov, 2006; Zakh and Skochina, 2006; Skochina, 2007), the position of Koptyakov-type monuments in the hierarchy of late Bronze Age cultures and communities remains uncertain.

Shaitan Lake II: characteristics of the monument and inventory

Our ideas about the beginning of the Late Bronze Age in the mountain-forest Trans-Urals were literally turned upside down by the recent discoveries made by Yu. B.Serikov on the shores of Lake Shaitansky (Kirovgradsky district, Sverdlovsk region; Fig. 2). In two laid-

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Fig. 2. Plan of the monument. Shaitan Lake II.

1-excavation in 1998. 2 - 2004 - 2005 years; 3-2006 t.; 4-2007 g.; 5-2008 g.; 6-Southern Shihan.

More than 130 bronze objects have been found in excavations with an area of less than 100 m2. Among them - tools and weapons: six whole and two fragmented Celts, 15 knives and daggers, five knives-skobel, two vtubchatyh chased, two openwork handles (according to SV Kuzmin, these are models of dagger handles), forged chisel, hooks, about a dozen awls, punctures, miniature chisels, fragments of knives celts and spears (15 units), a model of a spearhead, etc.; jewelry made mainly from sheet copper (grooved bracelets, including those with spiral ends, whole and fragmented temporal rings), as well as waste from smelting and casting. Bronze products, along with stone knives, scrapers and numerous arrowheads, were accompanied by Koptyakov-type ceramics.

A high degree of concentration of bronze and stone objects in a limited area is an indicator of the extraordinary nature of an open monument. It is located on one of the capes of the western shore of the reservoir, at an altitude of approx. 1.5-2.0 m from the water's edge (Fig. 2). The lake is small (mirror area 1.48 km2), shallow, flowing; the banks are low, mostly swampy, only in some places wooded slopes of low mountains approach the water. The finds of interest to us are from excavations in 2006 (52 m2 area) and 2007 (44 m2 area), laid on the south-eastern edge of the cape. Not far from them, 50 m to the southwest, stands a bizarre pile of granite blocks. In the Urals, they are called "stone tents". In 2007, Yu. B. Serikov conducted excavations at this site, which showed that this object-the Southern Shihan sanctuary - was most intensively used in the Early Iron Age, but no indisputable Bronze Age artifacts were found here. Such granite rocks are a typical element of Central Ural landscapes; in some cases, they are inscribed in the space and context of ancient monuments, but the connection of the Southern Shikhan with the objects of Shaitan Lake II has not been reliably established.

The objects lay at a shallow depth (10-45 cm) in the thickness of light light brown loam, one at a time, in pairs, or in the form of large and small clusters. The largest cluster identified in the 2006 excavation covered an area of 7 m2. Its core was a compact group of three bronze knives, two slotted handles, a broken celt, two fragments of a spear feather, a hook, two four-sided points, and fragments of grooved bracelets. Four more bronze knives were found 1.2 - 2.0 m to the north-east and east of this complex. Among these finds are a lot of foundry waste and small fragments of products (scrap?), including celts, hooks, grooved bracelets, as well as about 70 stone arrowheads of triangular shape.

To the east of this cluster was a complex consisting of a miniature celt, a knife, six stone arrowheads, and a dart tip broken in two. Another small cluster was located to the north-west of the big one and included a celt, a bell-shaped coinage and a model of a spear head. Not far from them, a vertically inserted knife-dagger is fixed. At a distance of up to 1.2 - 1.5 m from the bronze objects of a small cluster, 18 arrowheads were found. Special attention should be paid to the"matryoshka" set of three items: a celt stuck in the ground, a coinage in it and a hook in the coinage sleeve.

In the 2007 excavation, located 1 - 10 m to the south of the previous one (Figs. 2, 3), under turf and loose soil-

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3. Plan and profile of the north-eastern wall of the 2007 Shaitanskoe Ozero II excavation.

there were numerous granite blocks of natural origin. In one place, a 0.8 m x 0.4 m box fence was built of stones, oriented along the 3-B axis. Two stone arrowheads, a bronze plate and a fragment of a bracelet, pieces of ochre and fragments of four Koptyakov-type vessels were found next to it. A miniature vessel with a rounded bottom was found in a fence near the eastern wall in a thin carbonaceous layer, the remains of bone decay and small calcified bones of the baby's skull were recorded. The bulk of the finds lay in the ground between boulders and boulders; the objects found here also formed peculiar clusters. One of them, dedicated to the southern corner of the excavation, included numerous bronze foundry waste (drops, splashes), a whole grooved bracelet and fragments of such products, a pendant made of grooved jewelry, two skobel knives, fragments of a four-sided tip, two knives and a celt, as well as four stone arrowheads. If excavations continue near this site, the list of objects in this cluster will probably be replenished.

Another cluster was located 4 m north of the one described above. A Celt with a broken blade was leaning on the point of a plate knife, between them lay a massive scraper made of mottled (yellow-red-black) translucent chalcedony and a flake of chalcedony without traces of retouching, shaped like an animal figure. 0.8 m to the east of this set, a bronze dagger (product length 33 cm) was cleared, lying flat with its point facing south-east, i.e. towards the lake. Not far from it, fragments of grooved bracelets, six stone arrowheads and pieces of bronze were found.

Within the boundaries of conventional clusters, the finds lay mixed and at different depth marks; metal objects in them were found lying on the edge, in an inclined or even vertical position. Large clusters formed gradually. It is unlikely that things were simply laid out on the surface; most likely, they were placed in small depressions dug in loose soil, including between stones, and sprinkled with earth. Numerous fragments of ceramics and individual stone objects mark the day surface of the monument.

The Shaitanoozersky metal is morphologically divided into three groups. Products of the Seimin-Turbinsky type include plate-shaped double-edged knives without a dedicated or poorly marked handle (Fig. 4, 3 - 8; 5), skobel knives and other combined tools made on the basis of or from fragments of similar knives (fig.. 6, 46, 47, 49, 50). Plate knives and tools made from them are known to be among the most characteristic and widespread finds in the Seimin-Turbinsky-type burial grounds and the Kaninsky cave sanctuary (Chernykh and Kuzminykh, 1989, Table 8). Among the items of this type in the collection from Shaitan Lake II, one of the Celts, or rather its miniature model, can also be conditionally attributed (Fig. 1,8). The group of tools and weapons of the Samus-Kizhirov type (ibid., pp. 144-162) includes Celts with one or two "false" ears (Fig. 7, 1, 2, 4, 11, 12; 8; 9), broken dagger-

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a flat handle decorated on both sides with shaded triangles and rhombuses, and a plate-shaped blade (see Fig. 4, 20: 10). The products of the Eurasian type, which are primarily characteristic of the cultures of the steppe and forest-steppe belt of Northern Eurasia [Ibid., p. 184, Table 17], include double-edged daggers with molded handles, including ornamented ones (see Fig. 4, 16, 17, 21: 10; 11), models (?) 4, 1, 2), knives with crosshair and intercept (see figs. 4, 14, 15), forged chisel (see figs. 6, 51), spearheads and their fragments (see figs. 6, 37-39), plate grooved bracelets, etc. rings (see fig. 6, 42 - 45, 52 - 54). Among the items of this group, especially among jewelry, there is a high proportion of obvious Petrovsko-Alakulsky imported products. 7, 9, and 10), it is difficult to assign them to a particular morphological group due to their uniqueness.

In the Laboratory of Natural Science Methods of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the chemical composition of 88 samples, i.e. most of the metal inventory of Shaitan Lake II, was studied (analyses 49212-49299). Almost completely investigated tools and weapons (with the exception of small fragments of knives), quite a lot-blanks, as well as waste from melting and casting. A series of thin plate ornaments remained out of analysis; they will be studied later.

The collection includes several metallurgical (chemical-metallurgical) groups or alloy recipes. It is based on tin bronzes - 68 samples, or more than 77 % of the total sample. Tin concentrations in the alloy range from 0.8-1.0 to 10 %; most of the items should be classified as medium-alloyed, with a tin content of 3-8 %. Approximately half of the products (30 units) have an increased content (in tenths of a percent) of zinc (21 units), lead (4 units), arsenic (1 unit), sometimes in various combinations

4. Metal complex (knives, daggers, handles). Shaitan Lake II.

Fig. 5. Double-edged plate knives. Shaitan Lake II.

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6. Products made of stone (1 - 36, 65, 66) and bronze (37-64). Shaitan Lake II.

these elements (including those containing antimony). Such a richness of impurities is explained either by the mixing of scrap metal of an alien composition, or by the geochemical features of copper, which was the basis of this alloy. Two other items can be conditionally attributed to the group of tin bronzes: a dagger handle cast from a copper-tin-lead alloy (see Figs. 4, 20), and a celt (see Figs. 7, 12) from a copper-tin-arsenic alloy.

In the collection of Shaitan Lake II, the share of products made of metallurgically "pure" copper is small - 17 units, or less than 19 % of the total sample. Only three samples are completely "clean" - with a micro-impurity content of hundredths of a percent or less. The rest are "contaminated" with impurities (in tenths of a percent) of zinc (10 units) and tin (1 unit), sometimes in combination of these elements, as well as lead and nickel. Only one indisputable sample in the studied series is represented by-

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7. Metal complex (Celts, vtul'chaty chekany). Shaitan Lake II.

lena's arsenic bronzes. The content of arsenic at the spearhead (see Figures 6, 39) reaches 2.16 %, and it also has a slightly increased admixture of zinc (0.43 %).

The predominance of tin bronzes in the collection of Shaitan Lake II, including blanks and raw materials (ingots, drips, splashes, etc.), probably indicates the receipt of the ligature, part of the metal and the products themselves from the manufacturing centers of the Andronovo world.

The collection includes 195 stone tools, more than a hundred flakes, and 86 items of unclear purpose (see Figure 6). The collection is dominated by arrowheads, javelins, and their blanks - 121 items. (the main raw materials are variously colored flint and chalcedony; figs. 12-14). In terms of numbers, they are significantly inferior to scrapers, products on plates, and fragments of polished tools. Small series or individual finds are represented by chippers, pestles-terochniki (one boot-shaped), whetstones. Arrowheads are usually triangular in shape, with a straight, slightly concave or beveled base, carefully treated with flat retouching. There are only two petiolate tips. On the opened page

Figure 8. The Celts. Shaitan Lake II.

Figure 9. The Celts. Shaitan Lake II.

10. Daggers. Shaitan Lake II.

Figure 11. Daggers. Shaitan Lake II.

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12. Stone arrowheads. Shaitan Lake II.

13. Stone arrowheads. Shaitan Lake II.

14. Stone products. Shaitan Lake II.

15. Ceramics. Shaitan Lake II.

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Fig. 16. Ceramics. Shaitan Lake II.

No traces of tools, weapons, or jewelry were found in the area, but some deliberately broken bronze and stone objects were found. The Shaitanoozersky flint inventory shows similarity to the materials of the well-known monuments of the Seiminsko-Turbinsky type in a number of ways.

Bronze and stone objects in the excavations were accompanied by fragments (over 2,100 units) of more than 35 vessels (Figs. 15-18). All dishes are made of clay with an abundant admixture of talcum powder (it is appropriate to note that among the finds there were many pieces of talc). The Shaitanoozersky ceramic complex includes samples that are diverse in shape, size and style of decoration. Its integrity is confirmed by the conditions of occurrence of shards in the layer and depressions, visually recorded similarity of some significant technological and morphological features, as well as analogs in the materials of other monuments studied near Yekaterinburg and near Tyumen. In terms of their appearance, the dishes of Shaitan Lake II do not fully correspond to the ideas about Koptyakov-type ceramics formed during the study of finds from the eponymous monument - the Koptyaki-5 village [Salnikov, 1964, p. 7-10; Khlobystin, 1976, p. 55-58; Kosarev, 1981, p. 77-80; Obydennov,1981, p. 7-10]. Shorin, 1995, pp. 25-30]. To shai-

Figure 1 7. Ceramics. Shaitan Lake II.

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18. Ceramics. Shaitan Lake II.

the Tanoozersk collection, along with the flat-bottomed pots, contains original jar-shaped and pot-shaped vessels with a rounded bottom (see Fig. 15, 4; 16, 8; 18, 8), wide-open mouth (see fig. 16, 7; 18, 8), ribbed and smoothly profiled mulberry. There are a few vessels in it, decorated in the technique of a printed comb. The decor modestly presents geometric patterns and absolutely no meander motifs, but the specific weight of drawn and grooved horizontal lines is high. Some vessels look very archaic; without taking into account other clothing inventory, they may well be attributed as Eneolithic. Even at the preliminary stage of study in the ceramic complex, a comprehensive analysis of which is far from complete, it is possible to find similarities with aboriginal Eneolithic antiquities, transformed signs of Andronovo pottery of the Early Alakul and Alakul types, and some details evoke very vague Abashev or rather Abashoid associations. As for the ceramics of the eponymous settlement Koptyaki-5, then, judging by the degree of proximity (and it is) First, the Koptyakov materials themselves are not documented; secondly, the collection of finds from this monument stored in the Sverdlovsk Regional Museum of Local Lore is an incomprehensibly formed sample; thirdly, it seems to us that Koptyaki-5 is a later monument of the Koptyakov culture and culture. probably not iconic.

Discussion of the results

The study of the Shaitan Lake II cult complex has only just begun, but the results obtained are already sufficient to classify the monument as unique, opening up new perspectives in the study of the late Bronze Age of Northern Eurasia and allowing us to discuss in detail the formation of the Eurasian Metallurgical province and the involvement of the population of the mountain-forest Urals in it. New materials reveal the nature of the interaction of the main components of this process - the eastern (Seimin-Turbine) and western (Eurasian) ones. It should be emphasized that the Shaitan Lake II metal complex corresponds only partially to the Seiminsko-Turbinsky metal complex. Of the original triad of bronze tools and weapons of the Seimin-Turbin burial grounds - Celts, forked spearheads and plate knives-only the latter are represented here. Among the samples of spearheads, there is not one with a forked pen shaft. The Celts, while preserving the basic morphological features (proportions, stiffening ribs) and the characteristic decor (the belt-ladder and the triangles and rhombuses hanging from it) of the Seimin-Turbine guns, demonstrate a departure from the previous canon in the design of the ears - all of them are "false". The latter detail is known to be inherent in Kizhirovian Celts (Chernykh and Kuzminykh, 1989, Fig. 77, 7; 78; 79; 80, 7 - 6], which, along with the bezushkovy belt Celts of the Samus type [Ibid., Fig. 75, 4, 4, a; 76; 77, 1-5] belong to the diagnostic categories of Samusko-Kizhirovskaya metalworking products. The range of the latter includes the taiga areas of Western and Eastern Siberia from the Urals to the Baikal region.

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Partially explored in 2006-2007, the monument is definitely not a settlement. No objects or other evidence were found on the uncovered area that allows us to interpret it as a monument to industrial activity. This is not a burial ground, although a 2007 excavation revealed the remains of one infant burial site. Local soils do not contribute to the preservation of organic materials, but it is very difficult to allow absolutely complete decay of bone remains, if there were any in the excavated areas. The version of symbolic cenotaph burials performed here is subject to discussion, but it is hardly possible to prove it on the basis of the available materials. According to Yu. B. Serikov, the complexes studied on the shore of Shaitan Lake are most likely specially hidden objects used for ritual purposes. An important feature of the described sets of items is the presence of a large number of metalworking remains; but stone tool production waste is not found here. Objects made of stone of the time of interest to us are made mainly from non-native raw materials (flint and chalcedony of light and dark colored tones) and are strikingly different from the stone inventory of the Trans-Ural cultures of the Neolithic, Eneolithic and Early Iron Age.

The significance of the discovery on Lake Shaitan is not determined by the abundance of copper and bronze objects, although the concentration in one place of products of such excellent preservation is unique in itself. The materials of the monument clarify the mechanisms of including the cultures of the mountain-forest Urals in the system of the Eurasian Metallurgical Province and reveal one of the stages of interaction between the eastern (Seiminsko-Turbinsky proper) and western (steppe or Eurasian) components that led to its addition.

The metal complex of the Shaitan Lake II monument, syncretic in its basis, reflects the initial stage of the formation of metalworking of the Samus-Kizhirov type. He also explains the sources of getting into the environment of the carriers of the Koptyakov culture of products of the Eurasian-Petrovsko-Alakul-types and their processing by local craftsmen. It is possible that responses from mountain and forest centers like Shaitansky Lake II were introduced to forest-steppe cultures and are represented in the monuments of the Trans-Urals: Korkino [Chemyakin, 2000, p. 30, figs. 13, 14], Stepnoye [Zdanovich and Kupriyanova, 2007, Figs. 1, 4, 5], Chernyaks (Stokolos, 1972, figs. 9, 8; 10, 12), High Mane [Potemkina, 1985, p. 128,129, fig. 48,2]. The arrival of metal in the taiga zone of the Ob-Irtysh interfluve and the formation of local Late Bronze metalworking are most likely also associated with the activities of Ural centers. Examples of this are materials from the sanctuary of Saigatino VI (Koksharov and Chemyakin, 1991), the Tovkurtlor-3 burial ground (Stefanov, 2006), the settlements of Pashkin Bor and Volvoncha (Stefanova and Koksharov, 1988; Koksharov and Stefanova, 1993; Chernykh and Kuzminykh, 1989, pp. 144-157), etc.

In general, the materials of the Shaitanskoe Ozero II monument confirm the hypothesis of E. N. Chernykh and S. V. Kuzmin [1989] about the determining role of the Seimin-Turbine traditions in the formation of metalworking of Late Bronze age cultures in the northern forest-steppe and taiga zone of the Urals and Western Siberia. In the light of new discoveries, the features of the composition of metal complexes of the Alakul and Andronoid cultures and the degree of influence of the Seimin-Turbin and Samus-Kizhirov metalworking traditions on them become more clear. We can also say with confidence that the initial phase of the development of metalworking traditions of the Samus-Kizhirov type is associated with the territory of the Middle Urals and adjacent regions of Western Siberia.

Another important issue concerns the exceptional rarity of bronze products in Bronze Age settlements with numerous evidences of metalworking (crucibles, ladders, foundries). If we take into account that not only whole objects were brought to places of worship such as Shaitan Lake II, but also scrap, forging and casting waste, then the absence of such artifacts in the cultural layers of ancient settlements should hardly surprise us.

Since the monument is not exhausted by excavations, new arguments may appear in favor of one or another version. In our opinion, there are currently reasons to consider it a cult (or sacrificial) place. Further archaeological study of the monument with the involvement of specialists of various profiles requires the use of modern and original methods in order to extract the most complete information for its further interpretation. Taking into account the fact that the object is located in the zone of copper ore deposits, it is relevant to raise the question of their possible connection with the metal production of the Koptyakov culture that existed here. Among the priority tasks are the reconstruction of the paleoatural environment based on data from soil science, palynology, and geomorphology, as well as the identification of sources of raw materials for the manufacture of stone tools, etc. Promising, but also very complex, works related to the search for the principles of organizing sacred space, determining the features of ritual practice and worldviews of the population who left this monument [Serikov, 2007a, b]. Special attention should be paid to the development of problems of the Koptyakov archaeological culture, which, in the light of new discoveries, acquires the status of a powerful formation that has developed on a local basis under the influence of

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seiminsko-turbinsky and Petrovsko-alakulsky populations. The problem of absolute dating of the monument and establishing the chronological position of the Koptyakov culture in the Bronze Age culture system of the Eurasian Metallurgical Province is acute. Preliminary assessment of ceramics, stone tools, morphology and chemical composition of metal objects allows us to conclude that the existence of the Shaitan Lake II cult site dates back to the beginning of the formation of the Alakul and log communities and the activation of northern ties of the steppe population.

List of literature

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Viktorova V. D. Funerary complexes on the island of Kamennye Palatki // Protected archaeological research in the Middle Urals. Yekaterinburg, 2001, issue 4, pp. 95-107.

Denisov V. P., Melnichuk A. F. Zaosinovskoe VII settlement and the problem of forming the culture of the Bronze Age in the Middle Kama region / / Archeology and Ethnography of the Mari Territory. - Yoshkar-Ola: Republic polygr. - ed. association of the State Committee for Publishing of the Mari SSR, 1991, Issue 19: Late Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age cultures of the forest belt of the European part of the USSR, pp. 102-113.

Zakh V. I., Ivanov S. N. Bronze age complex of the Chepkul-20 multi-layer settlement in the north of the Andreevskaya lake system // Vesti, Archeology, Anthropology and Ethnography. Tyumen, 2006, No. 7, pp. 12-21.

Zakh V. I., Skochina S. N. Excavations of the Chepkul-20 multi-layer settlement // Vesti, Archeology, Anthropology and Ethnography. Tyumen, 2006, No. 7, pp. 231-234.

Zdanovich D. G., Kupriyanova E. V. Iz opyt issledovaniya pogrebal'nykh kompleksov epokhi bronzy v Yuzhnom Zauralie: mogilnik Stepnoye VII [From the experience of studying funeral complexes of the Bronze Age in the Southern Trans-Urals: Stepnoye VII burial ground].

Koksharov S. F., Stefanova N. K. Settlement of Volvoncha I on the Konda River / / Monuments of ancient culture of the Urals and Western Siberia. - Yekaterinburg: Ural, izdat. firm "Nauka", 1993. - p. 54-67. - (Vopr. archeology of the Urals; N 22).

Koksharov S. F., Chemyakin Yu. P. Monument of the Bronze Age in the vicinity of the village of Saigatino // Ancient burials of the Ob-Irtysh region. Omsk: Publishing House of the Omsk State University, 1991, pp. 43-52.

Kosarev M. F. Bronzovyi vek Zapadnoy Sibiri [The Bronze Age of Western Siberia]. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1981, 287 p.

Kuzminykh S. V. O metale epokhi bronzy poseleniya Palatki-1, -2 [On the metal of the Bronze Age of the Palatki-1, -2 settlement]. Yekaterinburg, 2001, issue 4, pp. 108-113.

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The article was submitted to the Editorial Board on 30.12.08.

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