The Bukhara oasis, with its unique geographic location, played an important role during the medieval period when it led the region’s political development as part of the Islamic world adjacent to the pastoralists in the northern steppe. Such a distinctive geopolitical environment likely left a visible trace in the shaping of material culture, which we tested by focusing on numerous copper-based metal objects recovered from a medieval site near Bukhara, Uzbekistan. Different types of objects including lighting devices, household objects, small buckles, and rings were metallographically examined for their microstructure and alloy composition. A clear sign of technological transition from bronze to brass was consistently observed in all the object types under consideration where scrap bronze served as one of the key raw materials. Large objects were mostly made of alloys containing a substantial amount of zinc. In contrast, the small buckles and rings were strictly divided between those with and without the addition of zinc, suggesting the simultaneous existence of two different alloy traditions regarding the use of zinc. We discuss these analytical results to relate the emergence of such a unique technological tradition to the region’s sociopolitical settings.

布哈拉绿洲以其独特的地理位置在中世纪时期发挥了重要作用，当时它是该地区政治发展的一部分，是伊斯兰世界的一部分，毗邻北部草原的牧民。这种独特的地缘政治环境很可能在物质文化的塑造中留下了可见的痕迹，我们通过集中研究从乌兹别克斯坦布哈拉附近的中世纪遗址中发现的众多铜基金属物体进行了测试。金相检查了包括照明设备，家用物品，小带扣和戒指在内的不同类型的物体的微观结构和合金成分。在考虑中的所有对象类型中，始终观察到明显的从青铜向黄铜技术过渡的迹象，其中废青铜是关键原材料之一。大型物品主要由含有大量锌的合金制成。相比之下，在不使用锌的情况下，将小的带扣和戒指严格地划分，这表明在使用锌方面同时存在两种不同的合金传统。我们讨论这些分析结果，以将这种独特的技术传统的出现与该地区的社会政治环境联系起来。