Wells as a Source of Cultural and Chronological Information: The Case of Kamennyi Ambar, Southern Trans-Urals
Wells as a Source of Cultural and Chronological Information: The Case of Kamennyi Ambar, Southern Trans-Urals
DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2020.48.4.095-105
A.V. Epimakhov1, S.E. Panteleeva2, and L.N. Koryakova2 1South Ural State University, Pr. Lenina 76, Chelyabinsk, 454080, Russia 22Institute of History and Archaeology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, S. Kovalevskoi 16, Yekaterinburg, 620108, Russia
This article presents 44 radiocarbon dates from 18 water wells of different Bronze Age periods at Kamennyi Ambar settlement, in the southern Trans-Urals. At the preliminary stage, statistical outliers were identified, which enhanced the reliability of the conclusions. Potsherds from the filling of the wells, contextual analysis of dating samples, and 14C dates allowed us to carry out the cultural attribution of nearly all wells (31 out of 34). The analyzed wells were subdivided into four chronostratigraphic groups corresponding to various settlement phases. Their duration and chronological limits were estimated. Most wells were found to belong to the Sintashta-Petrovka period (densely spaced linearly arranged blocks of structures inside fortified areas). This period comprised three construction phases, the latest of which correlates with the Petrovka ceramics. The second period, marked by randomly arranged structures, is associated with the Srubnaya-Alakul artifacts, and is represented by only four wells. The simulation results suggest that the site existed for less than one and a half centuries, including a short chronological gap between the two periods. The Sintashta (phases 1 and 2) and Petrovka (phase 3) were two consecutive traditions, which may have overlapped during the late period. In the Srubnaya-Alakul period (phase 4), a transformation of the architectural tradition took place, and the layout and construction of the wells changed too.
