Geophysical prospection and archaeological excavation of ancient iron smelting sites in the Barun‐Khal valley on the western shore of Lake Baikal (Olkhon region, Siberia)

Abstract

In 1997, an ancient iron production site, Barun-Khal 2, was discovered in the Barun-Khal valley (Olkhon region, near the west shore of Lake Baikal). This discovery initiated studies of the archaeometallurgical potential of the valley. They included magnetometry, resistivity, self-potential (SP) and radiometric surveys, archaeological excavation, analysis of chemical composition and magnetism of slag and other residuals, and radiocarbon dating of charcoal samples. As expected, the most efficient was the magnetometric survey. Despite challenging field conditions such as geology-related magnetic anomalies of large amplitude and contrast, the magnetometer survey in the Barun-Khal valley resulted in the discovery of another iron production site, Barun-Khal 3. Using the magnetometry, the general structure of the sites was studied and the places of excavation were determined. The resistivity, SP and radiometric techniques, as well as magnetic survey were useful in studying near-surface geology and recent geological history. Excavations have found well-preserved slag-tapping bloomery furnaces built into the sides of a large pit (Barun-Khal 2) or a trench (Barun-Khal 3). According to radiocarbon dating, iron production began here within the second and third centuries BC and lasted until the seventh to the eleventh centuries AD. The significance of the works in the Barun-Khal valley is determined by the fact that there exist significant gaps in the coverage of Russia (including Siberia) with archaeometallurgical studies. Most available papers on the archaeometallurgical activity in Siberia were not published in English until now. For the first time, the study of ancient iron production sites in the Olkhon region was considered as an independent scientific task and carried out using both geophysical and archaeological methods.

Ancient Iron-Smelting Site “East Hungai” on Olkhon Island (Lake Baikal, Russia): Rock-Magnetic Approach to Archaeological Problems

“…The amount of slag found during excavation is rather small, up to 1 kg in weight, as well as amount of clay pottery fragments (few pieces only). When compared to slag volumes (up to hundreds of kilograms) in the neighboring metallurgical sites of Kurma and Barun-Hal, where iron production has been operating for several centuries [11,12], the small slag amount at East Hungai indicates that only single, probably, trial iron smelting was run here.…”

“…to the first half of the first millennium A.D by the analogy with metallurgical sites of Kurma and Barun-Hal [11][12]. These sites are located on the opposite shore of Lake Baikal in front of the East Hungai (Figure 1).…”

Portable gamma ray spectrometry for archaeological prospection: A preliminary investigation at Silchester Roman Town

“…This led to a cessation of granitic deposits from the nearby Primorsky Range (Kozhevnikov et al, 2018). This change enabled soil accumulation and vegetation growth over the granitic material, which, due to attenuation by the soil, was characterized by a notable reduction in radioactivity (Kozhevnikov et al, 2018). In a separate study, preliminary findings from Bezuidenhout (2012) suggest that historic human activity at a site may be characterized by a depletion in potassium concen- 1.2 | Previous applications of gamma spectrometry in archaeology…”

“…Some studies have suggested that gamma radiation data can provide valuable insight into the geoarchaeological context of a site. For example, Kozhevnikov et al (2018) highlighted the value of collecting gamma ray measurements alongside traditional geophysical data during the survey of ancient iron smelting sites in Siberia. In this study, radiation data supported the identification of a rapid change in climatic and/or hydrogeological conditions at the site.…”

Investigation of Magneto-/Radio-Metric Behavior in Order to Identify an Estimator Model Using K-Means Clustering and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) (Iron Ore Deposit, Yazd, IRAN)

“…In traditional geophysical iron exploration methods, magnetometric and radiometric data had to be collected directly in all parts of the region to identify mineral anomalies [28][29][30]. Collecting magnetometric and radiometric data directly requires a lot of time and cost [31].…”