The first in Russia long 377-year tree-ring chronology based on charcoals from ancient Altai iron-smelting furnaces (mountains of Southern Siberia)

Cover Page

Cite item

Full Text

Open Access Open Access
Restricted Access Access granted
Restricted Access Subscription or Fee Access

Abstract

Charcoal is a common material for radiocarbon dating and is underestimated as an object of dendrochronological analysis – a method that allows dating natural and historical-archaeological events with an accuracy of up to a year. The new approach to charcoal sample preparation developed by the authors removes previously existing restrictions on the use of this fragile material in dendrochronological studies and allows it to be used as an effective source of information in paleoecology, paleoclimatology, paleogeography and archaeology. Applying this approach, a 377-year tree-ring chronology was constructed using archaeological coals from ancient iron-smelting furnaces in the Chuya-Kurai ferrous metallurgy province of the Russian Altai. This is the first tree-ring chronology of charcoal in Russia and the longest in the world dendrochronological practice. Its further analysis will provide new information about the nature and archaeological events of the high mountain region located in the center of Eurasia.

Full Text

Restricted Access

About the authors

V. S. Myglan

Siberian Federal University

Author for correspondence.
Email: agat@igm.nsc.ru
Russian Federation, Krasnoyarsk

V. V. Barinov

Siberian Federal University

Email: agat@igm.nsc.ru
Russian Federation, Krasnoyarsk

A. R. Agatova

V.S. Sobolev Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Ural Federal University

Email: agat@igm.nsc.ru
Russian Federation, Novosibirsk; Ekaterinburg

R. K. Nepop

V.S. Sobolev Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Ural Federal University

Email: agat@igm.nsc.ru
Russian Federation, Novosibirsk; Ekaterinburg

M. O. Filatova

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: agat@igm.nsc.ru
Russian Federation, Novosibirsk

References

  1. Nelle O., Guggenbichler E., Putz U., Schmidgall J. Eine mittelalterliche Kohlenmeilergrube im Vorderen Bayerischen Wald. Ergebnisse archäologischer, anthrakologischer und bodenkundlicher Untersuchungen // Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt. 2003. V. 33. №. 3. P. 457–467.
  2. Tolksdorf J. F., Elburg R., Schroder F., Knapp H., Herbig C., Westphal T., Schneider B., Fülling A., Hemker C. Forest exploitation for charcoal production and timber since the 12th century in an intact medieval mining site in the Niederpöbel Valley (Erzgebirge, Eastern Germany) // Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 2015. V. 4. P. 487–500.
  3. Мыглан В. С., Агатова А. Р., Непоп Р. К., Тайник А. В., Филатова М. О., Баринов В. В. Новый подход к изучению древесных углей из археологических памятников на примере металлургических печей Юго-Восточного Алтая // Археология, этнография и антропология Евразии. 2023. Т. 51. №. 2. С. 74–84.
  4. Agatova A., Nepop R., Myglan V., Barinov V., Tainik A., Filatova M. Potentiality of Charcoal as a Dendrochronological and Paleoclimatic Archive: Case Study of Archaeological Charcoal from Southeastern Altai, Russia // Climate. 2023. V. 11(7). P. 150.
  5. Зиняков Н. М. История черной металлургии и кузнечного ремесла древнего Алтая. Томск: Изд-во ТГУ, 1988. 274 с.
  6. Водясов Е. В., Зайцева О. В. Древнейшие памятники черной металлургии в Горном Алтае: новые данные из долины р. Юстыд // Сибирские исторические исследования. 2020. № 2. С. 125–147.
  7. Agatova A. R., Nepop R. K., Korsakov A. V. Vanishing iron-smelting furnaces of the South Eastern Altai, Russia-Evidences for highly developed metallurgical production of ancient nomads // Quaternary International. 2018. V. 483. P. 124–135.
  8. Агатова А. Р., Непоп Р. К., Слюсаренко И. Ю., Панов В. С. Новые данные комплексных исследований памятников железоплавильного производства в долинах рек Куектанар и Тюргун (Юго-Восточный Алтай) // Археология, этнография и антропология Евразии. 2018. Т. 46. № 2. С. 90–99.
  9. Мураками Я., Соенов В. И., Трифанова С. В., Эбель А. В., Богданов Е. С., Соловьев А. И. Изучение памятников черной металлургии на Алтае в 2017 году // Вестник Томского государственного университета. История. 2019. № 60. C. 167–174.
  10. Гутак Я. М., Русанов Г. Г. О возрасте железоплавильных печей урочища Куяхтанар (Горный Алтай) // Вестник Сибирского государственного индустриального университета. 2013. № 2(4). С. 18–20.
  11. Marguerie D., Bernard V., Bégin Y., Terral J.-F. Dendroanthracologie / In: Payette S., Filion L. (eds.). // La Dendroécologie: Principes, méthodes et applications. Quebec: Presses de l’Universite Laval, 2010. P. 311–347.
  12. Blondel F., Cabanis M., Girardclos O., Grenouillet-Paradis S. Impact of carbonization on growth rings: dating by dendrochronology experiments on oak charcoals collected from archaeological sites // Quaternary International. 2018. V. 463. P. 268–281.
  13. Brossier B., Poirier P. A new method for facilitating tree-ring measurement on charcoal form archaeological and natural contexts // Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 2018. V. 19. P. 115–126.
  14. Oberhänsli M., Seifert M., Bleicher N., Schoch W., Reitmaier-Naef L., Turck R., Reitmaier T., Della Casa P. Dendrochronological dating of charcoal from high-altitude prehistoric copper mining and smelting sites in the Oberhalbstein Valley (Grisons, Switzerland) / In: Turck R., Stöllner T., Goldenberg G. (eds.). // Alpine Copper II – Alpenkupfer II – Rame delle Alpi II – Cuivre des Alpes II. New Results and Perspectives Prehistoric Copper Production. Bochum: VML Verlag Marie Leidorf GmbH, 2019. P. 245–260.
  15. Pichler Th., Nicolussi K., Goldenberg G., Hanke K., Kovacs K., Thurner A. Charcoal from a prehistoric copper mine in the Austrian Alps: dendrochronological and dendrological data, demand for wood and forest utilization // Journal of Archaeological Science. 2013. V. 40. P. 992–1002.
  16. Коробкин В. А. Углежжение. Свердловск: Металлургиздат, 1948. 340 с.
  17. Сунчугашев Я. И. Древняя металлургия Хакасии. Эпоха железа. Новосибирск: Наука, 1979. 192 с.
  18. Справочник лесничего. Под редакцией А.Н. Филипчука. М.: ВНИИЛМ, 2003. 640 с.
  19. Алтын Тууди: Алтайский героический эпос / Под ред. А. Л. Коптелова. Новосибирск: Новосибирское областное государственное издательство, 1950. 108 с.
  20. Мыглан В. С., Ойдупаа О. Ч., Ваганов Е. А. Построение 2367-летней древесно-кольцевой хронологии для Алтае-Саянского региона (горный массив Монгун-Тайга) // Археология, этнография и антропология Евразии. 2012. № 3. С. 76–83.

Supplementary files

Supplementary Files
Action
1. JATS XML
Download
2. Fig. 1. Location of test plots and charcoal sample collection sites in the Chui (Ch) and Kurai (K) basins of the Russian Altai. Triangles – charcoal collection sites: 1 – Kuektanar, 2 – Yustyd, 3 – Tyurgun. Yolochka – Kur and Kri test plots in the forest-steppe zone of the Kurai basin.

Download (1MB)
Indexing metadata
3. Fig. 2. 377-year tree-ring chronology based on charcoal extracted from slags of iron-smelting furnaces of the Chuya-Kurai metallurgical region (a) and its sample content (b). The gray curve is the annual fluctuations of the growth indices, the black curve reflects the period in which the EPS parameter, which evaluates the sensitivity of the DKH to changes in external factors, is ≥0.85, the horizontal line is the arithmetic mean.

Download (259KB)
Indexing metadata
4. Fig. 3. Radiocarbon dates obtained by us for coals from iron-smelting furnaces at the Yustyd, Kuektanar and Tyurgun sites [4, 7, 8]. Calibration (1σ and 2σ) was performed using the OxCal 4.4.4 program. Colors indicate: 1 – Xiongnu era; 2 – Old Turkic era; 3 – time interval during which the last smelting took place in furnace No. 2 at the Kuektonar-1 site.

Download (316KB)
Indexing metadata

Copyright (c) 2024 Russian Academy of Sciences