Abstract:
The publication presents materials of the funeral necropolis Kyrykungir (East Kazakhstan),
in which two sets of astragals with traces of coloring pigments were discovered. The design
of the burials accompanying the inventory and the general archaeological context allows
dating these objects from the 12th to 13th centuries BC. Data from archaeozoological analysis
and SEM-EDX analysis of the painted surface of objects (alchiks) are present in the paper.
The species composition of animals has been established, demonstrating a combination of
astragals of both domestic and wild species. A diverse chemical composition of paints with
which objects were covered, as well as cases of renewal of staining, was revealed. In the
initial version, individual astragals could belong to population with different traditions of
making paints, possibly from different regions. The results allow us to offer a different point
of view on the phenomenon of the presence of alchiks in archaeological cultures. The range
of interpretations of astragals (alchiks) fi nds implies not only understanding them as elements
of game traditions, but also designating their complex social and cultural role in the funeral
rites of the population of Eurasia in the Bronze Age.
