Radiocarbon Chronology of Chuzhjajol Culture

Authors summarize and analyze the data on the 14C chronology of the Chuzhjajol culture in the Far northeast of the Europe (the Komi Republic and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug or the basins of the Pechora, Vychegda and Mezen rivers). As a result of the study of dwellings at the sites Vadniur I/7A, Vadniur I/5 and Muchkas, 17 new dates were obtained and its most probable age was determined within the framework of 4th – mid. 3rd millennium BC. These data make possible to attribute more convincingly the earliest manifestations of the Chuzhjajol traditions in the region to the Neolithic, and their further development to the Chalcolithic. However, evidence of metalworking at the sites of this culture has not been identified, and its dynamics is so far expressed only in pottery: the use of natural organic inclusions in clay and the simplification of the design of «lips». This probably indicates a connection with the bearers of porous ceramics of the Garino tradition. It was determined that dwellings of the Vadniur type on the Vychegda and Mezen rivers are the oldest structures in Northern Eurasia with a complex system of ventilation and heating of living space in the form of horizontal channels connected with fireplaces. The materials obtained as a result of the excavation of the basic complexes of the Chuzhjajol culture allows to date those using different materials and to determine the possibilities of using geochronometric methods on the archaeological sites of the taiga zone. The total volume of the obtained information determines the problem of finding the origins of Chuzhjajol traditions of housebuilding, flint knapping and pottery, which are unique for the region under study.