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RE-EVALUATING THE BRONZE AND EARLIEST IRON AGE IN LATVIA: CHANGES IN BURIAL TRADITIONS IN THE LIGHT OF 14C DATES

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2021

Dardega Legzdiņa Open the ORCID record for Dardega Legzdiņa [Opens in a new window] ,
Andrejs Vasks ,
Eduards Plankājs  and
Gunita Zariņa
Dardega Legzdiņa*
Affiliation:
Institute of Latvian History, University of Latvia, Kalpaka Blvd. 4, RigaLV-1050, Latvia
Andrejs Vasks
Affiliation:
Institute of Latvian History, University of Latvia, Kalpaka Blvd. 4, RigaLV-1050, Latvia
Eduards Plankājs
Affiliation:
Institute of Latvian History, University of Latvia, Kalpaka Blvd. 4, RigaLV-1050, Latvia
Gunita Zariņa
Affiliation:
Institute of Latvian History, University of Latvia, Kalpaka Blvd. 4, RigaLV-1050, Latvia
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

Until recently, there was a lack of radiocarbon (14C) dates from the Bronze and Earliest Iron Age (1800–500–1 BC) burial sites in Latvia. The chronology of the sites was assessed on the basis of archaeological analogies with neighboring regions and typological studies of the rather meagre grave inventory. In order to establish a firm foundation for an absolute chronology of burial sites and to better understand changes in mortuary practices during the period, sequences of samples from various burial sites have been dated. In this paper we report 48 14C dates from 12 different sites and discuss them in the context of previously established archaeological chronologies. 14C reservoir effects are addressed: regarding FRE, stable isotope analysis is helpful; however, more data should be gathered in future research. In some cases, the new dates are in accord with previous chronologies, while in other cases some widely accepted assumptions may need to be revised. The new dates have proved false several previous assumptions about both the dates of individual graves and whole sites. Based on the 14C dates, we model the chronological spread of burial barrows in Latvia along waterways, the earliest examples appearing in coastal western Latvia.

Keywords

Bronze and Earliest Iron Ageburial sitesLatviaradiocarbon dating
Type
Conference Paper
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 62 , Issue 6: Proceedings of the 9th International Symposium , December 2020 , pp. 1845 - 1868
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press for the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona

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Footnotes

Selected Papers from the 9th Radiocarbon & Archaeology Symposium, Athens, GA, USA, 20–24 May 2019

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