Bronze objects discovered in the settlements of the Noua-Sabatinovka cultures from the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova

The bronze objects attributed to the Noua-Sabatinovka cultural assemblage come largely from hoards or are stray finds, very rarely being found in settlements. Over 70 bronze pieces discovered in settlements or by chance (except for those in hoards) are stored in the National Museum of History of Moldova. The present paper introduces this collection of objects, as well as the chemical analysis of the metal alloy, which will elucidate some aspects related to the spread of metals in the settlements of Noua-Sabatinovka in the western part of this cultural community. The distribution by categories of the pieces discovered in the settlements, places the tools on the first position (30 units), followed by ornaments (25 units) and weapons (3 units). Except for uncleaned objects, the least impurities (Sn: 0.5-1.2%; Pb: 0.35-1.2%) were found on a piece of wire, pins, a Rollenadel type pin and bracelet and most impurities (Sn: 13-16%; Pb: 5.3-5.6%) were found on awls, knives and pins with ring heads. At the same time, the average values of tin are almost the same for tools and adornments and amount to about 7%; the values of lead, arsenic and antimony being visibly higher for tools (especially knives). The awls are among the tools in whose composition the tin can amount to 10-11%, the average values of this metal being lower in the case of pins and knives. In the category of ornaments, the tin content of the alloy is usually below average, although there are samples with a tin content of 8-13%. We mention that most of the bronze objects discovered in the Noua-Sabatinovka settlements are of western origin, analogous to those in Transylvania, but there are also items of Eastern origin – from the Dnieper region, such as daggers.