FRAGMENT OF A MINIATURE METAL MIRROR FROM THE SOUTHERN PART OF MONGOLIAN ALTAI: X-RAY FLUORESCENCE ANALYSIS AND PROBLEMS IN THE STUDY OF “ACCIDENTAL” FINDS
The territory of the Mongolian Altai is still poorly studied in terms of archaeology, although the number of scientific expeditions has increased significantly in recent decades. When excavating ancient and medieval burial and memorial complexes, researchers rarely find objects of material culture. This is due to different circumstances. One of the factors in this situation is the looting of archaeological sites. It should be noted that there are very few accidental finds. Some of them are in museums. However, in recent years the number of ancient, medieval and ethnographic metal products has been increasing. They were discovered when local residents used metal detectors. Most of the items can be classified as accidental finds. However, some of them obviously come from archaeological sites. This problem is actually broader than experts know about it. The need to solve it is obvious, and the ways of implementation can be different. It is important that items of historical and cultural heritage are stored in the state institutions. This article presents another find which is a fragment of a miniature metal mirror. Due to the presence of a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, a series of determinations of the alloy composition was obtained. In addition, the search for analogies and possible interpretations are outlined.