Complex from Mergen 6 Settlement (Lower Ishim River Region, Western Siberia) Attributed to the Transitional Period from the Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age

Purpose. The article examines a complex of items attributed to the transitional period from the Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age discovered at the multi-layer settlement of Mergen 6 in the Ishim River Region (Western Siberia). The study aims to describe pottery and inventory items associated with the complex, substantiate its chronological position, and characterize the cultural relations of the population. Results. Conventional archaeological methods were used such as planigraphic, stratigraphic, comparative typological analysis, and dated analogies. The inventory includes ceramic, bone, and bronze items. The ceramic complex is highly fragmented and contains about 6.4 thousand pieces. The sample for analysis included fragments of 482 vessels. The analysis singled out pottery groups from Krasnoozerka, Gamayun, and Itkul (Iset) archaeological cultures and a group of syncretic pottery. Conclusion. As evidenced by the ceramic materials, the population of the Ishim River Region (Krasnoozerka culture) interacted with that of the Trans-Urals (Gamayun and Itkul cultures) which is demonstrated by a large group of syncretic vessels. The inventory includes bone items such as arrowheads, ornamented tubes, amulets from bear’s fangs, and astragals; ceramic items such as molded biconical spindle whorls, one cylindrical spindle whorl, fragments of crucibles for melting metal, and scraper-shaped tools made of fragments of vessels. A series of bronze items, including three arrowheads and seven single blade knives, can be used to relatively date the complex of Mergen 6 settlement within the 8 th –7 th centuries BC. Later, complexes of the Early Iron Age Zhuravlevo culture sprang in the Ishim River Region, dating back to the 7 th –5 th centuries BC.