Issues in the Calendar Chronology of the Seima-Turbino Transcultural Phenomenon

Abstract

The Seima-Turbino (ST) transcultural phenomenon was unique in the Eurasian Bronze Age. Its very rare but highly specific memorial sanctuaries and randomly found bronze artifacts are scattered across a gently sloping arc spanning territories from northern China to the Baltic and the Lower Dniester––nearly 4 mln km2. However, until recently, no reliable radiocarbon database relating to ST has been available. The situation changed after the discovery of the Shaytanka memorial sanctuary in the Middle Urals, and its detailed excavation. As a result, a considerable series of radiocarbon dates has appeared, enabling us to arrive at a more reliable pattern of absolute chronology for ST in a vast territory from western Siberia (Sopka, Tartas) to the Upper Volga basin (Yurino). The earlier dates in the eastern part of the ST distribution area uphold the theory concerning the ultimate source of a long-range east-to-west migration. Important new features in the overall pattern of dates on the vast territories of the Eurasian forest and forest-steppe zones make it possible to reconstruct the nature of the contacts between the ST people and representatives of other cultures—especially those of the Abashevo-Sintashta-Petrovka community advancing in a west-to-east direction. © 2017 E.N. Chernykh, O.N. Korochkova, L.B. Orlovskaya.