The Echo of Arzhan or Archaeological Cultures on the Chronological Shelf

In the second half of the XX century one of the most important discoveries in Eurasia archaeology had been the study the Arzhan mound located in the Western Sayan (Republic Of Tyva). Its materials witness of the formed early Scythian tradition. Scientific methods detected the time of its construction - the second half of the VIII century BC. The early age of Arzhan relatively to the other “Scythian” world cultures has actualized the problems of studying of early nomads’ history in Eurasia steppe, and in a wider aspect also the problems of the Early Iron Age. The presented brief historiographical essay of this historical period on the territory of the Angara’s Yenisei region and the Lena River basin allows identifying of a peculiar trend. The concept of researchers of the antiquity of the Krasnoyarsk region consists of two options. According to the first, the beginning of the Early Iron Age in northern Angara region is dated as the VIII century BC, and according to the second version, it is VI century BC. The early date may not be accepted, since it is not supported by neither archaeological nor natural-scientific methods of dating. The other date needs additional validation. It is contrary to the logic of chronology of Krasnoyarsk forest-steppe development by Tagar population as well as the South Siberia “Scythian” items found in the taiga zone of the Yenisei-Angara region. In the Yacutiya archaeology the chronology concept of the Early Iron Age has been undergone a gradual transformation. The A.P. Okladnikov’s idea about the period’s existence within the V and XIII centuries AD was widely acknowledged for long time. The II century AD was offered to consider as a lower chronological boundary of the Early Iron Age on the Yakutia territory in 1970s. This idea was not supported among the experts. Nowadays the most common Early Iron Age chronology of the region is the V century BC - V century AD. In the last decade’s works a date for the beginning of this period is the VIII century BC, which is substantiated by a radiocarbon dating method. This evidence proves the synchronicity of historical-cultural development in steppe and taiga landscapes in Siberia. The revealed tendency to make the Early Iron Age more ancient in the vast territory of Eastern Siberia is contrary to the laws of historical development of the ancient societies in the Eastern Russia. An example of uneven historical and cultural processes is Western Siberia as evidenced by modern knowledge about the territory’s pre-history.

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