Dendrochronological Methods in the Architectural and Ethnographic Study of Russian Towns in Siberia: The Case of Tara, Omsk Region

Dendrochronological Methods in the Architectural
and Ethnographic Study of Russian Towns in Siberia:
The Case of Tara, Omsk Region

DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2017.45.4.122-131

M.O. Sidorova^{1, 2}, Z.Y. Zharnikov¹, Z.Y. Dorzhu³, A.Y. Mainicheva^{2, 4}, and V.S. Myglan^1
1Siberian Federal University, Pr. Svobodnyi 79, Krasnoyarsk, 660041, Russia
²Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia
³Tuvan State University, Lenina 36, Kyzyl, 667010, Russia
⁴Novosibirsk State University of Architecture, Design and Arts, Krasny pr. 38, Novosibirsk, 630099, Russia

This study focuses on the use of dendrochronological methods in architectural and ethnographic surveys, particularly with reference to early Russian towns in Siberia. These methods are used for the tentative dating of eight architectural constructions in the town of Tara. The standard dendrochronological technique includes the use of the calibrated treering chronology relating to the study area, and the relative chronology built using samples from a specific site. The method has numerous advantages, but also certain limitations, such as difficulties with dating partially reconstructed buildings. These difficulties can be overcome when using a multidisciplinary approach. As a result, the time of construction and reconstruction of several buildings in Tara has been evaluated, and a 419-year-long tree-ring chronological scale has been constructed, spanning the period from 1596 to 2015. This will facilitate the dating of 17th–18th-century wooden architectural constructions in western Siberia.

Keywords: Western Siberia, Russian towns, wooden architecture, dendrochronological analysis