THE EARLIEST IRON SMELTING SITES IN THE ALTAI REPUBLIC: NEW DATA FROM THE YUSTYD RIVER VALLEY

The article presents new data on the earliest black metallurgy sites in the region of Gornyy Altai, and specifically, new radiocarbon dates obtained from archaeological samples collected in the Yustyd River valley. These dates prove that iron smelting existed as early as in the first century BC to the first century AD. The research results suggest that large Xiongnu ceramic furnaces and iron smelting furnaces coexisted in the Yustyd River valley and allow concluding that the genesis of black metallurgy in Gornyy Altai was associated with the expansion of the Xiongnu Empire, as a result of which south-eastern parts of Altai were incorporated into the Central Asian area already under the influence of Xiongnu metallurgy traditions.