INFLUENCE OF ETHNOCULTURAL CONTACTS WITH THE POPULATION OF SOUTH SIBERIA ON THE APPEARANCE OF METALLOLITE PRODUCTION IN CHINA IN THE ANCIENT

The article contains materials on the relationship between China and the peoples of Southern Siberia in antiquity and the Middle Ages. The periods of antiquity can be reconstructed on the basis of archaeological materials. These are scientific publications of archaeological research of the most important monuments, albums of finds, etc. In addition, in the article, reports on the survey and excavation of archaeological sites on the territory of Southern Siberia from the Scientific and Branch Archive of the Institute of Archeology of the RAS for 1945-1965 are given as sources, the data from which were used in the study. They contain information that bronze and iron on the territory of this region appeared much earlier than in China. Given the complex of data, the article proves the assumption that it was through the mediation of the peoples of Southern Siberia that bronze (in the 2nd millennium BC) and iron (in the 8th century BC) fall into the northern regions of China, and from there spread throughout its territory, acquiring specific features of manufacturing technology and design.