Natural-science dating of iron age archaeological sites in the Lower Katun mountain valley

The preliminary radiocarbon dating results of the archeological monuments belonging to various periods of the early Iron Age in the North Altai open new perspectives for their complex study. Based on the representative necropolis of Chultukov Log-1 including over 100 burial mounds of the Scythian Epoch and about a dozen of the Mayminsky burials, it is possible to establish a chronology for the monuments of these epochs within the framework of the detailed correlation of the radiocarbon datings and traditional dates of the accompanying inventory. The Hun-Sarmatian times and Mayminsky culture in particular are characterized by a possibility of the non-biased determination of the appearance of fortified objects (fortresses) and correlation of settlements and burial complexes. One should also emphasize the obtained results of the beginning of the natural scientific dating of certain events of the ancient seismic activity according to the materials of burial structures.