The Chronology of the Subotiv Settlement

Abstract

Samples collected at the Chornoliska culture site near the village of Subotiv, Cherkasy region during the 1994–1995 Ukrainian-German expedition were radiocarbon dated in Kiev. The foundation of the Subotiv settlement dates to 1300–1200 cal BC. A skeleton found in one of the buildings at this site is dated at the end of the early period (between 1120 and 1040 cal BC). In the youngest part (a small town) of the Subotiv settlement, we found the remains of a “building sacrifice"—the skeleton of a teenager. The average calibrated date for this skeleton is 834–807 cal BC, whereas the timber from the rampart dates between 902–810 cal BC. Thus, the rampart was apparently built between 834–807 cal BC. Among the objects found on the site were Arzhan-type bone arrowheads. Such arrowheads, when found in Eastern Europe, are believed to indicate the military expansion of Proto-Scythian nomads. The Sargary settlement in western Kazakhstan dates to 960–820 cal BC, the Arzhan arrow in Siberia to 960–850 cal BC. We assume that the Chornogorivka complexes in eastern Eurasia date to the earlier time period (960–820) than those in western Eurasia (834–807). The time of the Chornogorivka expansion on the territory of Ukraine is therefore within the range 834 to 820 BC.