Burial of the Turkic khaganates period with a set of Chinese coins: on the chronology of objects at the Gorny-10 necropolis (the Northern Altai)

The article publishes the evidence from excavation of grave 18 of the Gorny-10 necropolis and gives its chronological interpretation. This site, located in Krasnogorsk District of the Altai Krai, was researched in 2000-2003, and presently can be considered a basic complex for studying various aspects of history of the population living in Southwestern Siberia in the Early Middle Ages. This object is a heavily destroyed burial of an adult woman with a fairly representative inventory, which included mainly jewelry and elements of outfit. The most important part of material complex is five Chinese coins. They belong to four types which were minted at different times over several centuries. Along with fairly common specimens, a chang- pin u-zhu coin was discovered; its analogies occur rarely at the sites of North and Central Asia. It has been established that the discovery of the kai-yuan tong-bao coin which defines the terminus post quem for this object, is of key importance for dating grave 18. This find, judging by its features, dates back to a period of not earlier than 627. Taking into account the time needed for the coin to reach the forest-steppe Altai, the burial in grave 18 was most likely made after the 630s. The analysis ofthe material complex has made it possible to limit the upper date of this object to the late 7th - early 8th century. The time when grave 18, located on the southern periphery of the Gorny-10 necropolis, was made, shows the approximate period of development in this part of the complex and demonstrates the opportunities for clarifying chronology at the entire site.