A01_07

Dating the emergence and development of nomadism in the Altai

Svyatko S¹, Reimer P¹, Papin D², Seregin N³

¹14CHRONO Centre for Climate, the Environment and Chronology, Belfast, United Kingdom, ²Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia, ³Altai State University, Barnaul, Russia

We present the preliminary results of the first systematic investigation into the absolute chronology of the Early Iron Age in the Altai region, southern Siberia, specifically targeting the emergence and dynamics of local nomadism and its place in the Eurasian Steppe context, using AMS radiocarbon dating and multi stable isotope analysis. Altai, located at the ancient crossroads between Central and North Asia, was the principal region through which prehistoric Eurasian steppe populations and cultures passed into China. Being the center of intensive cultural genesis and development, this relatively small and isolated region strongly influenced the lifestyle of many societies. However, no reliable chronologies have ever been developed even for the key periods and sites. We present the ¹⁴C dates for the signature nomadic sites, as well as sites representing the transitional periods in the area – boundaries between the LBA and EIA, and EIA and the Medieval period – which is especially important for assessing the issues of cultural genesis in the region. The new series of dates provides the first approach to a generalized broad picture of the development of nomadism in Altai, allowing more accurate interpretations on the emergence and development of different cultures and economies in various geographical zones (steppe, forest-steppe, mountains), as well as verifying the general sequence of the cultures.