Animal bones from the South Urals and Northern Kazakhstan

This dataset is a unified database on the Bronze Age archaeozoology of the Southern Urals and adjacent territories. The dataset consists of multiple datasets on individual settlements and burial complexes of the Bronze Age in the Southern Urals. The datasets were compiled by the author (A. Rassadnikov) from 2008 to 2026. The combined dataset includes both previously published and previously unpublished data. The dataset can be used for comparative analysis and independent research by archaeozoologists interested in the history of Bronze Age herding communities. The data is presented in such a way that any archaeozoologist can incorporate it into their own research or conduct independent analysis based on the dataset. The dataset may also be of interest to paleozoologists, who can assess the faunal composition and trace the distribution of several wild species during the Bronze Age or Holocene in the Southern Urals and adjacent territories. The dataset is designed so that its data will be of interest not only to archaeozoologists and paleozoologists, but also to archaeologists specializing in the study of the Bronze Age in the Eurasian steppe zone. The data is accessed via a single Excel file. The dataset consists of 36 datasets representing 38 Bronze Age archaeozoological complexes in the Southern Urals and adjacent territories. A number of settlements have two or three cultural-chronological complexes. The combined dataset consists of two main parts. The fourth tab of the Excel document contains all primary data («PRIMARY DATA»). This is data directly obtained through conventional archaeozoological analysis (bone species, skeletal element, degree of fragmentation and natural preservation, approximate sex and age, presence of bone artifacts, and all bone surface modifications (BSM). For convenience, each data type and modification is presented in a separate column. Information on species composition and all other information begins in column 17/Q. In addition to the primary archaeozoological information, the «PRIMARY DATA» column contains all technical information from the archaeological labels: square number, depth, tacheometric number, and other recordable information. The second part of the overall dataset consists of secondary data («SECONDARY DATA»). This includes absolutely all obtained animal bone measurements. For convenience, bone measurements data for each animal species is organized into a separate column. Animal bone size data begins with a column for cattle bone sizes. Following the animal bone size data is a separate, combined dataset with age-related and pathological changes in animal bones (primarily livestock). This dataset is designed using the same principle as the «PRIMARY DATA» tab. Each type of age-related and pathological change is organized into a separate column. The following columns contain age data based on analysis of the degree of wear on the chewing surfaces of livestock teeth and radiographs of bovine metapodia. Age data based on epiphyseal condition can be found in the «PRIMARY DATA» column (columns containing data on the condition of the proximal and distal epiphyses. Epiphyseal condition is indicated as fused or unfused). A more detailed description and instructions for using the dataset are in the «READ ME (HOW TO USE A DATASET)» on the first tab of the dataset.