Burial Complexes of Baikal-Yenisei Siberia with an Indeterminate Cultural and Chronological Affiliation: Analysis and Correction of the Database
To identify the burial complexes of the hiatus period (a break in traditional burial practice), which, considering the latest adjustment, is determined in the Cis-Baikal by the interval of 6660-6060 cal BP, we are implementing the project “Missing Link: The Problem of Identifying Middle Neolithic Burials in the Baikal-Yenisei Siberia”, which aims to address this issue within the territorial framework of the entire region. In less than three years, it was possible to collect and process data on a large series of burials, whose cultural and chronological affiliation raised questions. As a result, a database was created, which at the first stage consisted of 107 complexes, then was reduced to 57. Over the past year, new data have been obtained that make it possible to refine the database. There were also changes in the content of the database: some burial complexes were excluded, while others were added to it. Some inaccuracies made at the previous stage of the study have also been corrected. In addition, for the first time, we rank objects according to their likelihood of belonging to the Middle Neolithic (hiatus) based on reliable radiocarbon dates and comparative analysis. The revised database includes burial complexes from four locations of Baikal-Yenisei Siberia: the Kansk-Yenisei region, Northern Angara region, Southern Angara region, and Upper Lena. Now it contains information about 49 complexes of Baikal-Yenisei Siberia, which are divided into five groups. It was established that 9 burials (groups 1 and 2) can be associated with the hiatus period, and in 6 cases reliable confirmations in the form of correct AMS-dates have already been received. Burials from groups 3 and 4 have a high potential for filling the hiatus after correcting the available radiocarbon data and obtaining an additional series of determinations. The complexes of group 5 have the lowest degree of probability of belonging to the Middle Neolithic. We also note that when filling the hiatus, one should not strive to be limited to the period of 6660-6060 cal BP, since these frameworks of the Middle Neolithic indicated only the absence of known burials in the territory of the Cis-Baikal at that time. The Middle Neolithic is actually a more complex phenomenon, associated with the development of Baikal-Yenisei Siberia by new groups of hunter-gatherers who came from the west a little earlier, probably about 7000 cal BP. The exodus of this population also did not occur instantly, and the upper boundary of the Middle Neolithic requires clarification.