Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 35 (3) 2008

Annotation:  Sergeyevka-1: Neolithic Site in the Khanka Plain, and the Typology of Middle Neolithic Sites in Pri Cultural Change during the Late Prehistoric Period in Southern Primorye (Based on Archaeological Ev Formation of the Eurasian “Steppe Belt” of Stockbreeding Cultures: Viewed through the Prism of Arch Stages in the Settlement History of Chicha-1: The Results of Ceramic Analysis New Early Iron Age Culture in the Southern Taiga Zone of Central Siberia Prospects for Correlating Radiocarbon and Archaeological Chronologies of the Scythian and Hunno- Sa The Role of Migration in the Evolution of the Andronov Community The Bear Image in Western Siberian Art of the 2nd Millennium BC and its Relevance for Delimiting the Ethnic and Cultural Functions of Name in Traditional Japanese Society G.I. Choros-Gurkin’s Archaeological and Ethnographic Drawings at the National Museum of the Altai R Eco-museums in Siberia as Centers for Ethnic and Cultural Heritage Preservation in the Natural Envi Cranial Characteristics of the Saka Populations of the Eastern Pamirs   

Prospects for Correlating Radiocarbon and Archaeological Chronologies of the Scythian and Hunno- Sarmatian Age Burials in the Sayan-Altai Region

N.Yu. Kuzmin.

Over the past decade, a large series of radiocarbon dates for burials in the Sayan-Altai area have been provided and estimates made in the preceding years have been calibrated. The most controversial dates concern burials made during the Scythian and early Hunnu periods. Many radiocarbon dates differ from those based on archaeological evidence. Claims that the Large Pazyryk Kurgans in the Altai date as far back as 300–250 BC, and that the early Uyuk- Sagly burials in Tuva and the early Saragash burials in the Minusinsk Basin are as early as the 8th–7th cent. BC are especially questionable, as are radiocarbon dates of the later Uyuk-Sagly and Saragash sites. The claim that certain Tes mounds with burial vaults date to the Scythian rather than the Hunnu period is also questionable. Certain discrepancies are evidently caused by problems with the radiocarbon analysis of remains falling in the chronological range between 800–400 BC. Reliable estimates can only be based on the totality of available methods, and it is essential to correlate the estimates for various periods.