NEW DATA ON THE CHRONOLOGY OF FORTIFIED SETTLEMENTS OF HUNTERS, FISHERMEN AND GATHERERS IN THE TAIGA ZONE OF WESTERN SIBERIA

Abstract

The taiga zone of Western Siberia is an area with a long history of fortification construction. The number of known sites and their prototypes is more than 1 000, most of them belong to the Early Iron Age and the Middle Ages, but the first fortifications are dated to the Neolithic period and appear in the region at the turn of 7th–6th millennium BC. The study of their functions is a complex task, which can be solved, among other things, on the basis of statistical methods, which application is impossible without a reliable chronology. Unfortunately, the number of radiocarbon dates for the sites in the taiga zone of Western Siberia is extremely small. To create a reliable base for radiocarbon dating of the Surgut Priobie sites, associated with various types of defensive structures, we collected samples of coal and carbon deposit on pottery. Samples were collected both from museum collections and in the course of fieldwork. The main study site was the Barsova Gora tract, which sites form the basis for the study of cultural processes and the chronology of the Middle Taiga subzone of Western Siberia. As a result, a series of 66 radiocarbon AMS dates from 18 fortified and unfortified settlements from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages was obtained. Analysis of the series showed that about 10 % of the dates are invalid, which is due to both selection errors and complex stratigraphy, as well as to problems of the method, including the reservoir effect. Many sites were dated for the first time. In addition, 6 dates were obtained for the bones and soft tissues of modern fish.