Alakul culture chronology (new materials for discussion)

The paper reviews issues related to radiocarbon chronology of one of the key archaeological cultures ascribed to the Andronovo entity of the Late Bronze Age. This study is intended to create reliable grounds for the Alakul chronology in a specific context of the southern Trans-Urals as a key region where traditions emerged and contacts with other cultures were maintained. It introduces new dating results (Aleksandro-Nevsky-1 cemetery) in scientific discourse, provides statistical generalization of recent dates, and compares chronology of the forest-steppe and the steppe Alakul sites. The paper uses only AMS-dates (34) obtained from reliable contexts. The analyzed materials included human bones (18), animal bones (11) and wood (5). The generalization of the series put the interval within the range of 1900-1600 BC. The comparison of the local variants of the culture points to a chronological priority of the steppe sites. The earliest Alakul dates are close to the Petrovka culture dates whereas the Fedorovka interval is younger than the Alakul interval, though these cultures did coexist for a long time.