The paper is attempt to identify the hotbed of metalworking in the Northern Black Sea region in the 6th—5th centuries BC. At the same time, an explanation is given that the hotbed of metalworking should be understood not as a complex of specialized metal-working centers, but as a region of similar production with uniform typological, chemical and metallurgical characteristics, and unified production technology. Contrary to outdated claims, the level of foundry in the forest-steppe Scythian centers in the archaic time was incomparably higher than in the Greek colonies, and it was the local craftsmen who provided the population of the Northern Black Sea region with products made of non-ferrous metals. Many craftsmen worked in the off-premise way, that is, they led a mobile (wandering) lifestyle, extending their activities to the Greek colonies. Some alloys, with an admixture of antimony and arsenic in particular, indicate the links of the foundry workers to the mines of the Volga region and the Urals. However, it is not possible to speak of metal coming from there directly into the Greek colonies. There were no trade routes from Olbia to the eastern regions, since no Greek thing is known on any of the monuments of the Ananian culture. On the contrary, Scythian ornaments and weapons are quite common. Therefore, it was through the Scythian merchants and metallurgists that the metal with an admixture of antimony entered the Northern Black Sea region and the Greek colonies in particular.
The Fortresses of Ukraine. The Builders of Early Iron Age Strongholds in Podolia