Double Corrals - New Sites of the Bronze Age in the North-West Crimea and Their Study by Geophysical, Geochemical and Microbiological Methods

In the course of systematic exploration in 2007-2020, using natural-scientific approaches, more than 50 new settlements of the Bronze Age were discovered and investigated in North-West Crimea, for which borders, layouts were determined, and individual building complexes were identified. This became possible only with the use of an interdisciplinary methodology that combines the analysis of satellite images, magnetic survey and selective excavation. One of the most impressive results achieved thanks to the large-scale magnetic survey was the identification of double (in rare cases - single) oval stone structures with a maximum diameter of up to 50 m, interpreted as cattle corrals at 25 settlements. On the surface of the soil and on satellite images of a certain period of the year, these corrals appear only in denser grassy vegetation, since the stone fences of the corrals are completely submerged in the ground. Surface material is not found in corrals; it can only be found in burrows of rodents and foxes. This is the first time that such constructions have been revealed entirely. The most probable chronological position of these sites is the Late Bronze Age. The article presents the results of comprehensive studies of one of the characteristic double corrals, identified at the Bronze Age settlement Natashino 1. Based on the results of magnetic surveys, geochemical and microbiological analyzes of the cultural layer, it was possible to draw conclusions about the purpose of the corrals and the functional difference between their small and large parts.