Mobility of nomads in Central Asia : Chronology and 87Sr/86Sr isotope evidence from the Pazyryk barrows of Northern Altai, Russia

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Authors

POKUTTA Dalia BORODOVSKIY Andrey OLESZCZAK Łukasz TÓTH Peter LIDÉN Kerstin

Year of publication 2019
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Journal of Archaeological Science : Reports
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Arts

Citation
Web https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X18305832?via%3Dihub
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.101897
Keywords mobility; strontium; nomads; radiocarbon dating; Iron Age; Pazyryk culture; Altai
Description In this study we report the first 87Sr/86Sr isotopic data and mobility analyses of the Pazyryk culture in Central Asia. Throughout prehistory the Altai Mountains represent a unique cultural frontier characterised by a perpetual state of transition, resulting from highly mobile nomadic inhabitants. We analysed human skeletal remains from barrows in the Manzherok region of the Altai Republic, Russian Federation. The analysis was based on 160 measurements of 87Sr/86Sr from Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) and Thermal Ionisation Mass Spectrometry (TIMS), in tandem with environmental samples and comparative animal material. The combined dating evidence and strontium isotopic values indicate that after the 5th century BC, residential mobility amongst Altaic nomads is rising, especially long-distance female mobility, leading to contact acquisition with extrinsic territories of Central Asia. The 87Sr/86Sr isotopic evidence from Manzherok suggests that members of the Altaic population might have been buried in Scythian tombs located in Tuva and Khakassia, most notably in the Arzhan barrows.
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