The article presents the results of experimental serial casting of medieval non-ferrous metal small forms toreutics from the Central Asian region. The aim of the study was to identify changes in the ornament when copying small forms toreutics and casting series of different items. As examples, the authors used bronze plaques from the end of the 1^st millennium AD with the “fig flower” composition from the Tyukhtyat hoard (Minusinsk Basin). A total of 24 samples were made, which were divided into six series. Three first-order series were made using smelted or imprinted wax models. Two second-order series were cast using imprints of items from the first-order series. One third-order series was obtained using the imprint from the second-order items. The standards were digitized using 3D-scanning. The study of the 3D-models included the comparison of the items from the series with original samples and the assessment of the differences in the relief of the ornament. The authors revealed degradation of the ornament on the standards when copying castings. This degradation manifested in the levelling of the relief. The obtained data can be used for detailing the manufacturing technology, organization of production and distribution of medieval belt and horse harness fittings in the Southern Siberian region.

Keywords: Central Asia, Middle Ages, small-forms toreutics, non-ferrous metal, experimental archeology, serial casting.

 

Funding. Research Project of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, no. FWZG-2025-0007 “The Application of Digital Technologies in the Analysis of Archaeological Data and the Reconstruction of the Ancient History” using scientific equipments of the Core Facilities Center “Cenozoic Geochronology” at the Institute of Archaeology & Ethnography Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch (Novosibirsk, Russia).

 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Accepted: 09.06.2025

Article is published: 15.09.2025