Radiocarbon Dating of Late Bronze Age Burials from the Great Urals (Steppe Trans-Urals and Northern Kazakhstan) and Bayesian Modeling

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the last two decades, the Bronze Age chronology of the Great Urals was revolutionized by the first large-scale radiocarbon dating programs. Since then, the chronology of the Bronze Age in this area has been under discussion. In this paper, we present 23 new AMS dates from Late Bronze Age sites in the steppe and forest steppe areas of the southern Trans-Urals and northwestern Kazakhstan. This includes the first successful dating of cremated bone samples from this area. Bayesian modeling was conducted to date the Late Bronze Age into three chronological phases. The considerable number of outliers suggests previously undetected biases in the material. In addition, we found differences between the Bayesian models of the steppe and forest steppe areas that are not reflected in the archaeological record. This study emphasizes the value of Bayesian modeling for the prehistoric chronology of the Great Urals but also highlights its issues.