Sickles from the Sosnovaya Maza Hoard: A Study of the Elemental Composition and Production Technology

This study presents the results of metric and trace-wear analyses, as well as elemental composition analysis using the mass-spectrometry with inductively coupled plasma (ICP-MS) of 42 sickles from the Sosnovaya Maza hoard from State Historical Museum. The main components of the alloy in all cases were identified as Cu (91.30–99.19%) and Fe (0.02–7.85%). The trace-wear analysis of sickles has revealed many traces on surfaces of the items that were assigned to three technological phases: casting, post-casting processing, and probable use of the sickles. The comparison of metric and trace-wear analyses results provide to identify eight subgroups of sickles. Each subgroup was supposedly cast in a single mold.