NEW EVIDENCE FOR A BRONZE AGE DATE OF CHARIOT DEPICTIONS IN THE EURASIAN STEPPES

Abstract

Two-wheeled horse-drawn chariot depictions in the Eurasian steppe have long been stylistically dated to the Bronze Age. Here we present an example of a petroglyph embedded in the architecture of an early Scythian royal tomb in the Tuva Republic, Siberia. The construction of the tomb is dated through wiggle-matching to between 833 and 800 BCE (95.4%) thus providing a rare terminus ante quem for chariot depictions in southern Siberia. The new evidence supports the current chronological range for this type of petroglyph in the Eurasian steppe belt.长期以来，欧亚草原上的双轮马拉战车图像一直由风格断代为青铜时代的产物。在本文中，我们展示了西伯利亚图瓦共和国一座早期斯基泰王室陵墓中的岩画。通过碳十四扭摆匹配(Wiggle-Matching)，将该墓葬的建造年代确定为公元前833年至公元前800年之间(95.4%)，从而为西伯利亚南部的双轮战车图像提供了罕见的年代下限。该新证据支持了欧亚草原带此类岩画目前的年代范围。