Koban Heavy Bronze Cuff on sale North Caucasus c 1100 - 400 BC - Small Adult or Child, Late Bronze Early Iron Age

Offered is an exceptional heavy Koban bronze cuff in child or petite adult size from the steppes of the Black Sea over 2000 years old. It is a heavy bronze child or adult bracelet and has ridged decorations in a deep pattern. The bracelet measures approximately 2 inches and over 1 1/2 inches high and is in great condition. This is as received and are original and unrestored. The Koban culture (c. 1100 to 400 BC) is a late Bronze Age and Iron Age culture of the northern and central Caucasus. It is preceded by the Colchian culture of the western Caucasus and the Kharachoi culture further east. It is named after the village of Koban, Northern Ossetia, where in 1869 battle-axes, daggers, decorative items and other objects were discovered in a kurgan. Later, further sites were uncovered in the central Caucasus. The culture flourished on both sides of the Great Caucasus Range, and extended into the areas of Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, and North Ossetia-Alania, and South on sale Ossetia. It also reached the high north-western regions of Georgia such as Racha and Svaneti. Some areas of Northeast Caucasus also had Koban settlements, in particular the modern Ingushetia and the western regions of Chechnya. To the north, the culture extended as far as the Terek River, and to the Laba River in the Krasnodar area. The early phase of the Koban culture, especially in the west, possibly extends back as far as the 13th century BC, as the recent radiocarbon dates indicate. The Koban culture settlements (as opposed to isolated cemeteries) have been little studied, with the exception of those located in the modern Chechnya, such as near Serzhen-Yurt, and near Bamut; these were major centers from around 11th century BC to around the 7th century BC. The remains include dwellings, cobble bridges, altars, iron objects, bones, and clay and stone objects. There were sickles and stone grain grinders. Grains that were grown included wheat, rye and barley. Cattle, sheep, goats, donkeys, pigs and horses were kept. There were shops, where artisans worked on and sold pottery, stone-casting, bone-carving, and stone-carving. There is evidence for an advanced stage of metallurgy. There was differentiation of professionals organized within clans. The alloying of copper with antimony increases its hardness although, according to Charles (1980), with antimony contents above a few percent it becomes brittle,to the extent that it cracks on working. lt is therefore essentially a casting alloy. The Koban culture, named after the well-known site in Northern Ossetia, developed out of the existing Late Bronze Age culture of the Central Caucasus in the late 2nd millennium with the initial stage of cultural development dating to the 12th century BC. The culture is best known for its outstanding bronzes, primarily from cemetery sites. Graves were richly endowed with weapons such as daggers, axes and maces together with horse-bits, cheek-pieces and costume elements such as pendants, fibulae, bracelets, beads etc. Here is an opportunity to own a part of that history from the Koban. This can be relic, repurposed or even worn. As with all my artifacts this cuff will carry a lifetime money back guarantee of authenticity, and I will provide a Certificate of Authenticity. Because of size and weight this will be sent Priority Mail.