Sosnovaia Maza Treasure
Sosnovaia Maza Treasure
a collection of copper articles of the late Bronze Age (12th–11th centuries B.C.), discovered in 1901, near the village of Sosnovaia Maza, Khvalynsk Raion, Saratov Oblast. The treasure, weighing 21 kg, consists of 58 broad single-edged tools, identified as sickles or choppers for clearing arable land, five daggers with leaf-shaped blades and openwork handles, four celts, and one bronze ingot.
Daggers similar to those found near Sosnovaia Maza were prevalent in the northern Black Sea region and the Caucasus during the late Bronze Age and are related to earlier types produced in metallurgical centers of Transcaucasia and Iran, especially in Luristan. The articles probably belonged to the chieftain of a tribal alliance or one of the tribes dwelling in the steppes.