Early metallurgy of Ukraine of the Late 5th – 4th Millennia BC: a Synthesis

Abstract

According to the classical model of the metallurgical raw material supply chain proposed by Eugeniy Chernykh, the Eneolithic and Early Bronze age cultures of Ukraine were completely dependent on imported raw material. It seems that the main supplier of metal, as well as some complete goods during the 5th and 4th Millennia BC, was the ‘Carpatho-Balkan Metallurgical Province (CBMP)’ while during the 3rd Millennium BC, the provision chain was reoriented towards the ‘Circumpontic Metallurgical Province (CMP)’. Yet, new discoveries that were made during the 1990s-2020s indicate the need for the amendment of such a model. This is the aim of the current paper. In the following text, the concept of four Ukrainian local metallurgical provinces and two metalworking foci will be introduced. The typology and dating of the recently discovered metal objects as well as metallurgical tools will be provided. The question of the existence of domestic metallurgical raw material deposits will be discussed.