Pazyryk C14 and Dendrological Dating - Table 1 - Marsadolov, Zaitseva, Lebedeva

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The history of study and dating of Sayan-Altai archeological monuments is more than 250 years old. In that time was made a way from excavation of kurgans, initial classification of objects, establishing archeological cultures to application of monument dating methods independent of archeology.

The large kurgans of Altai for the first time with the scientific purpose were excavated by V.V.Radlov in Katanda and Bereli in 1865. While studying the Shiba (1927) and 1-st Pazyryk (1929) kurgans, archeologists M.P.Gryaznov and S.I.Rudenko took samples of wood trunks with traces of human activity. S.I.Rudenko completed excavation of four large kurgans in Pazyryk in 1947-1949. In 1950 he investigated two kurgans in Badashar, and in 1954 - two kurgans near village Tuekta. In 1971 - 1974 M.P.Gryaznov and U.H.Mannai-ool excavated in Tuva "royal" kurgan Arjan. Dosens researchers stated their opinions about dating of the Sayan-Altai large kurgans. For example, different archeologists dated kurgan Arjan from 11th up to 6th cc. BC, mostly 8th - 7th centuries cc. BC.

From the beginning of 1950es for absolute and relative chronology of the large kurgans started to be used natural sciences methods: Hyppology (V.O.Vitt 1952), dendrochronology (I.M.Zamotorin 1959, 1963; E.I.Zaharieva 1974, 1976; L.S.Marsadolov 1981 - 1994), radiocarbon dating (S.V.Butomo 1963; G.I.Zaitseva, J.N.Markov, L.S.Marsadolov 1987), etc. Attempts to correlate Sayan-Altai radiocarbon and dendrochronological results were undertaken earlier by S.I.Rudenko, E.I.Zaharieva, Ya.A.Sher and L.S.Marsadolov.
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After first post-WWII war S.I.Rudenko's publications about Pazyryk and S.V.Kiselev's monography "Ancient history of Southern Siberia", unwrapped a live discussion about Pazyryk kurgans dating. Moscow archeologists L.A.Evtühova, L.R.Kyzlasov, K.F.Smirnov, and also K.Iettmar supported S.V.Kiselev opinion about "Hunno-Sarmatian time" of the large kurgans in Pazyryk. B.A.Raev repeatedly compared separate art objects from Pazyryk and kurgan Khokhlach he dated by the end of the 1 c. BC, suggesting to "reconsider dating of Pazyryk kurgans toward younger dates".

After detailed comparative analysis of the Sauromat and Pazyryk materials, K.F.Smirnov came to a conviction that first researchers of Pazyryk, S.I.Rudenko and M.P.Gryaznov are closer to the trueth. The Pazyryk kurgans belong not to the Hunno-Sarmatian, but to Sauromat time, i.e 5th - 4th centuries BC.

A dating of the Pazyryk kurgans by the "Scythian time " in 1950-1990es asserted Leningrad (St.Petersburg) archeologists M.I. Artamonov, A.Ü. Alekseev, L.L.Barkova, N.A.Bokrovenko, L.K.Galanina, A.D.Grach, M.P.Gryaznov, L.N.Gumilev, M.L.Zavituhina, L.S.Marsadolov, V.M.Masson, S.I.Rudenko, G.I.Smirnova, S.S.Chernikov, J.A.Sher and others.

A summary of foreign research of the Pazyryk kurgans' dating was made in the USA in 1991. A main attention was given to the import objects in Pazyryk, and to the materials from new excavation in China. Woolen fabrics and a carpet from Pazyryk - 5 were dated by post-Achaemenid time; objects from the 1-st and 2-nd kurgans, made under influence of the Greek imports was dated by the 4th - beginning of the 3rd centuries BC, silk fabrics and art embroidery on silk from the 3rd and 5th kurgans was dated by the end of the 4th - 3rd centuries BC, images of fantastic animals on a tattoo of the man from the 2-nd kurgan was dated by the end of the 4th - 3rd centuries BC, etc. K.V.Chugunov in 1993 summarized the substantive provisions of that 1991 publication, and also dated large Pazyryk kurgans by the end of the 4th beginning of the 3rd centuries BC, and dated kurgan Arjan by the middle of the 7th century BC.
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The disagreements in the absolute dates and relative construction sequences of the unique kurgans of a world class forced the authors to return again to the problem, because the chronological component is one of the key points in the historical-archeological reconstruction. The dating plays a special role for the model archeological monuments which are a base for chronological reconstructions. The large kurgans of the Sayan-Altai region belong to such types of monuments.

Sayan-Altai region kurgans contain perfect materials for the study: stumps, logs and rafters, well preserved in the frozen ground due to thick stone pile. Chemical analysis of samples of larch from kurgans Arjan and Pazyryk has shown that despite more than 2,000 years age, the wood contains 70-80 % of the initial quantity of cellulose, and practically not deconstructed lignin. The wood has clearly seen annual rings. These wood samples can be a valuable source for authentic radiocarbon and dendrochronological research. Dendrochronological studies for various kurgans of Sayan-Altai were carried out earlier, and was composed a continuous scale for more than 600 years. However, the scale was "floating", without a "zero" point. To determine a position of "zero" in a calendar time scale by only by dendrochronology method is obviously impossible because of the lack of developed dendrochronological scales of continuous extent for the Russian territory, and lack of corresponding data to the foreign dendrochronological scales. Nevertheless, it is possible to apply a radiocarbon dating method for samples of the "floating" scale. Creation of calibrating curves for conversion of of radiocarbon age to calendar allows to correct and verify the earlier conclusions and assumptions.
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The results of the radiocarbon dating of samples from Sayan-Altai kurgans are shown in Table 1. The range of radiocarbon age is 2,300-2,800 radiocarbon years. Conversion of the radiocarbon dates to calendar time is with calibrating curves, because the correlation between radiocarbon dates and calendar time is equivocal. The ambiguity is caused by past fluctuations of radiocarbon concentration in the atmosphere, caused by solar activity and other phenomena of cosmic character, variability in the Earth magnetic field and other factors. The calibrating curve has radiocarbon concentration fluctuation cycles, global, about several thousand years, and local, 100, 200 years and less.
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Scientific practice uses the global Stuiver curve (1986). The section of the Stuiver curve corresponding to the range applicable to our results, and applicable deviation is shown on Fig. 1. The correlation between radiocarbon age and calendar time in the study range is equivocal. The period of 2,360 - 2,460 a large calendar duration corresponds to the 100 radiocarbon years, whereas for the period of 2,700-2,800 calendar interval of about 130 calendar years corresponds to the 100 radiocarbon years, i.e. in the latter case exist direct ratio of radiocarbon and calendar age. Comparing radiocarbon dating of the wood sections with the Stuiver curve allows associate the floating dendrochronological age with radiocarbon and calendar age
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[Follows a detailed comparison of samples and curve sections]

The congruity of the curve, with its irregularities, for the Northern and Southern hemispheres was proved convincingly, allowing us to determine the dependence of the radiocarbon age for dendrological samples in a "floating" scale, and to find a similar form of dependence on the calibrating curve. The dendritic scale for the Sayan-Altai kurgans is shown on Fig. 2b. On Fig. 2а radiocarbon are shown the corresponding resulting dates.A section of the calibrating curve is shown on Fig. 3. A section of the calibrating curve matching the interval of radiocarbon age is shown on Fig. 4. On Fig. 5 is shown a standard deviation of the calendar age, marked by dashed lines. In this example are calendar age intervals of 516-436 and 424-396 years BC for 68,3 % probability (1b) and 758-686 and 540-386 years BC for 95,4 % of probability {2b).
146.
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In most cases the dendritic age is within the limits of the calibrated calendar age. Comparing value of the dendritic age with the calibrated calendar interval makes it possible to reduce the calibrated calendar interval to ± 20 - 40 years, and to find the age of the kurgans with missing dendritic studies.

The correlation 9of the dendritic and radiocarbon scales allows to determine the absolute date intervals for the Sayan-Altai large kurgan structures (within the limits of the modern development level of radiocarbon dating, Tab. 2).

Table 2. Dating of Sayan-Altai large kurgans

Kurgan	Floting Dendritic scale	Complex Dating per C14 (years BC)
Pazyryk-5	0	440-360
Pazyryk- 1	48	490-410
Pazyryk- 2	49-50	490-410
	130
Tuekta-1	180	620-540
	200
Arjan	380+5	820-740

Bashadar-2	-	close to Tuekta date
Shibe	+	380-260
Katanda	-	500-200

Generally, is visible a tendency to increase the absolute age of the large Sayan-Altai kurgans of the 1st millennium BC. This proved the suggestions about possible increase of the age for all these monuments (Marsadolov 1988, p. 78); for the Arjan kurgan (Trenojkin 1976, p. 210; Gryaznov 1983, etc.); kurgan Shibe (Rudenko 1960; Barkova 1978 - 80; Marsadolov 1985), etc.

The "newer" dates for the construction of the Pazyryk kurgans, suggested by a number of archeologists and art critics, is not supported by the produced evidence.
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Legends for illustrations:
Fig. 1 Section of Stuiver and Pearon calibrating curve.
Fig. 2 Correlation of radiocarbon dates (b) and dendritic dates (a) for Sayan-Altai kurgans. See symbols to Fig. 6.
Fig. 3 General character of the Stuiver calibrating curve for intervals received by radiocarbon measurements.
Fig. 4 Section of calibrating curve corresponding to radiocarbon age 2390 ± 40 ВР.
Fig. 5. Distribution of intervals for calibrated radiocarbon age 2390 ± 40 for 1b and 2b respectively.
Fig. 6 Calibrated calendar intervals and dendritic dates for tested samples from Sayan-Altai kurgans:

1 - calendar interval of calibrated radiocarbon age;
2 - the total number of annual rings in dendritic sample;
3 - interval of annual rings in radiocarbon dating;
4 - year of cutting a tree, construction of a kurgan.

Foreword

Correlation Of Dendrochronological And Radiocarbon Measurements For Great Kurgans Of Sayan-Altai

Foreword