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XIII/1/2022
INTERDISCIPLINARIA ARCHAEOLOGICA
NATURAL SCIENCES IN ARCHAEOLOGY
homepage: http://www.iansa.eu
The Provenance of Raw Materials of the Second Complex (2018) of Stone
Casting Moulds from the Archaeological Monument of Tokivske-1 (Ukraine)
Ihor S. Nikitenko
1*
, Oleksandr V. Starik
2
, Vladimir I. Ganotskiy
1†
1
Dnipro University of Technology, 19, Dmytro Yavornytskyi Avenue, Dnipro, 49005, Ukraine
2
Dmytro Yavornytsky National Historical Museum of Dnipro, 18, Dmytro Yavornytskyi Avenue, Dnipro, 49005, Ukraine
1. Introduction
The archaeological monument of Tokivske-1, the study
of which began in 2012 by the expedition of the Dmytro
Yavornytsky National Historical Museum of Dnipro,
appeared to be one of the most interesting archaeological
sites of the Middle Dnipro area recently included in the
archaeological map. The monument was discovered thanks
to the active work of local historian Y. I. Serhiichuk, who
informed the museum archaeologists about the existence of
an interesting feature, located near the village of Tokivske in
the Dnipropetrovsk Region (Figure 1). The village is known
for its deposit of pink granites of the Tokivskyi complex
as well as for geological landmarks such as a canyon and
waterfalls in the River Kamianka valley. The discovery of
a stone megalithic construction and a cult pit during the
archaeological excavations was the frst result of the work.
Further archaeological excavations allowed the establishment
of three main cultural horizons on the Tokivske-1 site. The
frst, the lowest horizon, dates back to the Middle Bronze
Age (Babyne Cultural Circle). The second horizon belongs
to the Late Bronze Age (Sabatynivka Culture). The upper
horizon belongs to the Early Iron Age and is represented by
Scythian monuments (Starik, 2017).
In the frst stage of the monument’s study, it was interpreted
only as a “megalithic place of worship”. Megalithic
constructions, similar to the one in Tokivske, are known in
the Dnipro Rapids area (the rapids existed on the river Dnipro
in its fow between the cities of Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia).
These constructions are usually “located over the water, on
islands or the second terrace, usually on a little cape, formed
by a gully in the place of its fowing into the river Dnipro, less
often on the third terrace” (Lahodovska, 1949). In addition
to the megalithic construction, which existed for a long
time and was visited by representatives of various tribes,
an altar stone, lingam-like and anthropomorphic stelae,
several cult pits, several thousands of pottery fragments,
nearly 80 fint implements and 53 stone implements, and
Volume XIII ● Issue 1/2022 ● Pages 41–52
*Corresponding author. E-mail: ihornikitenko@gmail.com
ARTICLE INFO
Article history:
Received: 9
th
July 2020
Accepted: 4
th
January 2022
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24916/iansa.2022.1.4
Key words:
stone casting moulds
petrography
Late Bronze Age
Tokivske-1
Ukraine
ABSTRACT
Petrographic research was undertaken on the second casting moulds complex discovered in 2018 at
the archaeological monument Tokivske-1 in Ukraine. Metalworking of the Late Bronze Age in the
Northern Black Sea region is known for its utilisation of stone moulds made from meta-ultrabasites
(“talc schists”) by representatives of the Sabatynivka culture. Field investigations in the vicinity of
Tokivske indicated the probable place of stone mining, from where a considerable part of the casting
moulds under study were made. The discovery of the place of stone mining near Tokivske-1 and fnds
of similar moulds in other regions give grounds for considering the monument to be not only a centre
of metalworking but also stone-processing. The obtained data are also the frst geologically proved
evidence that the Kryvyi Rih area, which was previously considered the main supplier of “talc schists”,
was not the only place of mining of raw materials for the manufacturing of casting moulds in the
Middle Dnipro area. Both complexes, the second and the previous one, found in 2017, contain matrices
made of identical raw materials, namely, the samples made are untypical for the Middle Dnipro area
species. This fact indicates the synchronicity of both complexes and a signifcant volume of casting
production in Tokivske-1.
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IANSA 2022 ● XIII/1 ● 41–52
Ihor S. Nikitenko, Oleksandr V. Starik, Vladimir I. Ganotskiy†: The Provenance of Raw Materials of the Second Complex (2018) of Stone Casting Moulds
from the Archaeological Monument of Tokivske-1 (Ukraine)
42
numerous osteological materials were found in Tokivske-1.
Archaeological excavation was accompanied by petrographic
research of the stone materials, which allowed the sources
of origin of the stone implements and raw materials for
their manufacture to be determined (Nikitenko
et. al.
, 2018;
Nikitenko
et. al.
, 2019). Additionally, based on the analysis
of the raw material of a stone pestle-sceptre, a connection
between the Tokivske-1 site and the Donetsk Mining and
Metallurgical Centre of the Late Bronze Age was recognised
(Nikitenko
et. al.
, 2019), which was the most developed
on the territory of Ukraine thanks to the richest reserves
of copper ore in the Bakhmut lobe area (Brovender and
Okalelov, 2019).
The need to re-estimate the role of the archaeological
monument of Tokivske-1 became apparent after the frst
hoard of stone casting moulds of the Late Bronze Age
(consisting of three valves of moulds) was found on the
site in 2017. Furthermore, minor fragments of two ceramic
moulds and one stone mould were found nearby. It was
suggested that there is a monument of ancient metalworking
on the site. Metalworking centres were very common and
fourished in the Northern Black Sea region during the Late
Bronze Age, and played an essential role in its economic
development. The key to this was the links with the mining
and metallurgical centres of the Balkans, the Urals and the
Caucasus (Sava and Borofka, 2013). We should note that the
conclusions about the nature and typology of the Tokivske-1
monument could only be made after the entire territory of the
cape, on which it is located, had been studied.
The following year, the expedition found one more hoard
of casting moulds, which was discovered at a distance
of 26 m to the southwest of the previous one. The hoard
comprised seven items: a single-sided mould with a cover,
used for a rounded ingot or a mirror casting; a preformed
block or a mould cover for a rounded product casting; the
central element of a four-sided mould for casting a fat adze
and three chisels; a valve of a single-sided mould for a celt
casting; two double-valved double-sided moulds for dagger
casting. Not far from the hoard, a preformed block for a valve
and three little fragments of casting moulds were also found.
A trade in preformed blocks and readymade stone moulds
was evidenced on the territory of Ukraine in the Late Bronze
Age. The main raw material for their production was meta-
ultrabasite, mainly with a composition of talc-chlorite-
amphibole. In the Northern Black Sea region, the extraction
of meta-ultrabasite and the exchange trade in casting moulds
and preformed blocks are associated with the tribes of the
Sabatynivka Culture (16
th
– 13
th
centuries BCE) (Leskov,
1967). A petrographic study of the frst complex showed
the unusual provenance of the meta-ultrabasites used for
the matrices manufacturing, an issue which requires further
research (Nikitenko
et. al.
, 2020).
This paper is devoted to the petrographic research of
the second complex of casting moulds, including the
determination of the provenance of its stone raw materials
and a comparison with the materials of the frst complex
matrices. The main goals of the research were to fnd the
most probable place of ancient mining, as well as to elaborate
new data for the concept of mining the meta-ultrabasites for
the casting moulds production in the Late Bronze Age.
2. Petroarchaeological background
Petrographic analysis is widely used in the investigation of
Bronze Age stone implements. Its application allows the
provenance of diferent raw materials to be determined.
I can be also a key to understanding the system of ancient
stone mining and its delivery. Examples of recent use of such
methods are studies of stone tools from the archaeological