PECULIAR FEATURES OF NON-FERROUS METAL INDUSTRY AND METALWORKING IN PROTOTOWN CENTRES IN CENTRAL PREDURALYE

In her research M. G. Ivanova raised various questions concerning the Middle Age history of Udmurtia. One of them is the question of origins of prototown settlements which were craft, trade and political centres on the territory. The Idnakar settlement used to play the key role among the prototowns of the day. In her work a lot of attention is paid to craft activities characterization, among others non-ferrous metalworking. Very similar cultural and historical processes may be observed on the territory of Central Preduralye - its Udmurt and Perm areas. Today’s research shows that metal workers in Central Preduralye produced copper alloys, cast ingots and exported these as trade goods. Alongside furskins, metal as a strategic raw material was one of the most sought-after trade items. Local artisans made some impressive achievements in non-ferrous metalworking - metal casting, gold-work, and copper smithy. Non-ferrous metal industry and metalworking, traditional among the Finno-Ugrian population, was much less dependent on craft centres of large feudal states than thought previously. However, it was clearly under the influence of these centres. Local production of various everyday items and decorations using non-ferrous materials is confirmed by many traces of mass craft production in prototown centres, and in Idnakar in particular. It is brightly manifested by the large number of specialized workshops that have been found across the Perm Region in recent years. Today it is beyond any doubt that there were in Central Preduralye regional centres of copperware production - particularly of cauldrons - as well as a peculiar Bulgar-Kama gold-work school whose items have peculiar unique features. Thanks to large-scale research at key Middle-Age sites, our views changed dramatically on specific features of metalworking in Central Preduralye and the import ratio on these territories among the unearthed Middle-Age artefacts.