Chronological correlation of the Late Eneolithic of the forest steppe and the final neolithic-eneolithic of the forest zone of the Middle Volga region

The article is devoted to the analysis of radiocarbon dates of the Late Eneolithic of the forest-steppe zone and the Final Neolithic and Eneolithic of the forest region of the Middle Volga region. The problem of the chronological relationship between the south and north of the region under consideration was debatable and resolved ambiguously. This was largely due to the lack of C14 definitions for materials originating directly from the area. The array of radiocarbon dates has grown in the last two decades, and currently there are 60 C14 determinations for the forest and forest-steppe complexes of the Middle Volga region. Radiocarbon dates have been obtained from ceramics, soot, and humic acids. The author analyzes dates from the complexes of the Chekalinsky, Toksky, Gundorovsky, Krasnomostovsky types and the Middle Volga variant of the Volosovo cultural and historical community. According to the results of radiocarbon dating, the Late Eneolithic materials of the forest-steppe and the sites of the Final Neolithic of the forest zone are synchronous with each other. The lifetime of Toksky type ceramics is determined in a fairly wide range, from 4800 BC to 3600 BC with a probability of 68.2 % or from 4900 BC to 3500 BC with a probability of 95.4 %. The chronological interval of materials of the Chekalinsky type is set in the range from 4900 BC to 3700 BC (68.2 %) or from 5700 BC to 3500 BC (95.4 %). The Gundorovsky and Krasnomostovsky type complexes have narrower chronological intervals: 4340-4000 BC (68.2 %) or 4500-3700 BC (95.2 %) and 4330-3950 BC (68.2 %) or 4700-3500 BC (95.2 %), respectively. When comparing the sums of calibrated dates, only partial overlap of the chronological intervals allocated for the Volosovo sites and materials of the forest-steppe and Krasnomostovsky type is observed. The materials of the Middle Volga variant of the Volosovo cultural-historical community are located in later chronological positions in relation to the sites of the Toksky, Chekalinsky and Gundorovsky types and the final Neolithic of the forest region. The chronological range of these complexes is established in the interval from 4000 BC to 2900 BC (68 %) or 4500-2800 BC (95.4 %).