SUNGIR REVISITED: NEW DATA ON CHRONOLOGY AND STRATIGRAPHY OF THE KEY UPPER PALEOLITHIC SITE, CENTRAL RUSSIAN PLAIN

Chronological and stratigraphic frameworks are of the utmost importance for Upper Paleolithic archaeology, physical anthropology, and ecology. Wide ranging radiocarbon (C-14) dates were previously obtained for the Sungir burial complex in the central part of European Russia, which is well-known as the richest funeral Paleolithic assemblage in the world yet recorded. The major problem was the contamination caused by consolidants used during the recovery of human bones in the 1960s. The stratigraphy and spatial structure of the Sungir site were also not well understood previously. New radiocarbon and stable isotope data are generated for the Sungir burials. While some dates were younger due to incomplete removal of contamination, the XAD C-14 age on S-1 burial (ca. 29,780 BP) was found to be statistically the same as the previously performed HYP C-14 age for this burial (ca. 28,890 BP). Four animal bones found in cultural layer below the burial date to ca. 28,800-30,140 BP, suggesting that both this layer and human burials date to roughly this age range. Narrowing these ages further is difficult considering the larger errors of the C-14 dates. This shows that future research attempting to C-14 date material excavated many years ago needs to eliminate potential contamination from consolidants through analyses such as FTIR, prior to C-14 dating. The chronology and stratigraphy of Sungir do not contradict to correlation of its lithic artifacts with the Streletskian assemblage as the East European variant of the Final Szeletian technocomplex (Early Upper Paleolithic).

Automated summary

Chronological and stratigraphic frameworks are vital for Upper Paleolithic archaeology, physical anthropology, and ecology. Previous radiocarbon dating of the Sungir burial complex in central European Russia was hindered by contamination. However, new data from radiocarbon and stable isotope analysis confirm the approximate age of the Sungir burials and the cultural layer below them.