The Late Bronze Age settlement and burial ground of Sandyktau (preliminary research results)

Materials of the settlement of the Bronze Age Sandyktau and synchronous monuments located in its district — mine openings and two burial grounds are being published. The monument is located 2.2 km south of the Sandyktau mountain range, 1.5 km southeast of the village of Petrovka in the Sandyktau district of the Ak-mola region. It occupies a cape on the high left bank of the Zhabai River. 22 pits from household and out-buildings were recorded in the settlement. The pits are organized into four linear structures oriented along the northwest–southeast axis. The largest pits are concentrated in the northern part of the settlement. The area of the monument is 130×325 m². Numerous fragments of ceramic vessels and other remains of the life of the an-cient population are found throughout the entire area of the settlement on the modern surface. An excavation with an area of 12 × 12 m was laid on pit No. 8. The cultural layer in the settlement was plowed up to 30 cm. Fragments of Sargarin-Alekseyev ceramics are found everywhere in it, which determine the cultural affilia-tion and chronology of the site. In this layer, slags and fragments of copper products were found — by-products of copper smelting, as well as animal bones. In the vicinity of the settlement, as a result of additional exploration work, two emergency burial grounds of the late Bronze Age and a group of mine openings for granite and ore were identified. The settlement and its environs are promising for studying the problems of history, culture and metal production of the population of Northern Kazakhstan of the Late Bronze Age.