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Chronology of Key Barrows Belonging to Different Stages of the Scythian Period in Tuva (Arzhan-1 and Arzhan-2 Barrows)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

G I Zaitseva ,
K V Chugunov ,
A Yu Alekseev ,
V A Dergachev ,
S S Vasiliev ,
A A Sementsov ,
G Cook ,
E M Scott ,
J van der Plicht  and
H Parzinger
...Show all authors
G I Zaitseva*
Affiliation:
Institute for the History of Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia
K V Chugunov
Affiliation:
State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
A Yu Alekseev
Affiliation:
State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
V A Dergachev
Affiliation:
A.F.Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia
S S Vasiliev
Affiliation:
A.F.Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia
A A Sementsov
Affiliation:
Institute for the History of Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia
G Cook
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, East Kilbride, United Kingdom
E M Scott
Affiliation:
Glasgow University, Glasgow, United Kingdom
J van der Plicht
Affiliation:
Groningen University, Groningen, the Netherlands
H Parzinger
Affiliation:
German Archaeological Institute, Berlin, Germany
A Nagler
Affiliation:
German Archaeological Institute, Berlin, Germany
H Jungner
Affiliation:
University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
E Sonninen
Affiliation:
University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
N D Bourova
Affiliation:
Institute for the History of Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia
*
Corresponding author. Email: ganna@mail.wplus.net
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Abstract

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This paper focuses on the chronological study of 2 Scythian period monuments that are the key to the chronology of the entire Eurasian Scythian culture. These are the unique monuments of Arzhan-1 and Arzhan-2 in Central Asia (Tuva Republic). The dating of both these monuments began immediately after their discovery, but discussion about their chronological position is still current. Both monuments contained considerable wooden material from their construction suitable for dendrochronology and radiocarbon dating. The first results for the Arzhan-1 barrow were obtained by wiggle-matching in 2004–2005, while the Arzhan-2 barrow was first dated in 2003. It is now possible to compare the chronological position of these barrows using the same methods. As postulated earlier, Arzhan-1 is the oldest Scythian period monument and is dated to the boundary of the 8–9th centuries BC. The position of the Arzhan-2 monument stretches to the middle of the 7th century BC. δ13C values for annual tree rings in logs from both barrows were also determined to gain a better understanding of the climatic conditions at the time of barrow construction.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 49 , Issue 2 , 2007 , pp. 645 - 658
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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