Radiocarbon Dating of Holocene Archaeological Sites in the Far Northeast of Europe

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the critical analysis of the radiocarbon dating results of Mesolithic, Neolithic and Chalcolithic complexes of the northeastern part of the East European Plain (Republic of Komi, Arkhangelsk and Vologda Regions and the Nenets Autonomous Area, Russian Federation). The comprehensive evaluation of all available geochronometric data in relation with the studied archaeological events highlighted the following three data sets: reliable, ambiguous and invalid dates. A new chronological model of Far Northeast of Europe colonization and dispersal of innovations over the Holocene is proposed based upon reliable radiocarbon dating results.

Keywords

• Mesolithic
• Neolithic
• Chalcolithic
• Northeastern Europe
• radiocarbon dating