The chronology of the Mesolithic, Neolithic, Aeneolithic, and Bronze Age sites in the Trans-Urals (Russia) was studied, and a framework for previously established cultural complexes is suggested based on 153 radiocarbon dates. In this new chronological model, the Mesolithic is dated to ~10,000–6500 cal BC; the Neolithic complexes exist at ~6500–3800 cal BC; the Aeneolithic is dated to ~4300–2800 cal BC; the Early Bronze Age spans ~2500–2100 cal BC; and the Late Bronze Age can be preliminary assigned to ~1600–1100 cal BC.

Intriguing wooden objects, excavated (mostly unstratigraphically) from peat bogs in the Trans-Urals region of Russia, are here dated by AMS and found to belong to the Aeneolithic and Bronze Age. In spite of a long sojourn in museums, and conservation with various chemicals, the dates obtained were consistent and reliable.

This article considers the results of an analysis undertaken on pottery recovered mostly from multi-phase Iron Age sites in the Trans-Urals region of Russia. It focuses on a particular project involving fieldwork and the subsequent analysis of archaeological contexts and the laboratory studies of pottery morphology, ornamentation, technology, and statistics, with an attempt to apply the concept of style. This type of research project is unusual for Russian ceramic studies and the article begins with a consideration of the formal typological approach to the study of artefacts, which is a traditional aspect of Russian archaeology and is still the primary focus of many research programmes.