Dendrochronological analysis of wood from graves 2 and 9 of the Tashtyk burial ground Tesinskiy Zaliv-3 in the Bogradsky District of the Khakassia Republic

The article presents the data of dendrochronological analysis of archaeological wood from Tesinsky Zaliv-3 graves 2 and 9 of the Tashtyk culture. The study is based on the collection of 22 wood samples from various structural elements of burial log cabins. Two species of coniferous trees: Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) have been identified. The poor state of preservation of the wood caused significant difficulties: degradation of the surface and medial layers, numerous cracks, compression of tree-rings, and others. These features complicated the process of measuring the width of the rings and cross-dating the tree-ring series. The objective of the study: to construct a generalized tree-ring chronology (TRC) for the site and to identify the connection between the graves of Tesinsky Zaliv-3 and the burials of the Oglakhty burial ground in order to create a general dendroscale for the Tashtyk culture. New relative tree-ring chronologies have been created for the Tesinsky Zaliv-3: grave 2 - larch TRC, 87 years long; grave 9 - pine TRC, 148 years. Comparison of the new TRCs with the previous larch TRC generated for grave 1 showed a good correlation between graves 1 and 2. The pine TRC for grave 9 is cross-dated with the pine TRC of the Oglakhty burial ground and showed a high degree of statistical significance. The derived relative chronological scales of the tree-ring series of three Tesinsky Zaliv-3 graves well-correlated with the Oglakhty dendroscale represent the following ranges (beginning and end of the tree-ring series): grave 1 - 84-178 years, grave 2 - 89-176, grave 9 -22-169. The results of the study show that the burials of Tesinsky Zaliv-3 were constructed approximately during the period of several decades contemporary with the studied graves of Oglakhty site. The experience of work with the wood in such a poor state of preservation shows undoubted prospects given the high value of archaeological wood as a source of information about the site.