Marmot incisors and bear tooth pendants in Volosovo hunter-gatherer burials. New radiocarbon and stable isotope data from the Sakhtysh complex, Upper-Volga region

This article examines Volosovo period chronology at the hunter-gatherer settlement and burial sites Sakhtysh II and IIa (Upper-Volga area, Russia) by presenting 15 new AMS and stable bulk isotope (EA-IRMS; δ13C, δ15N, %C, %N, C:N ratio) measurements of animal bones and teeth from ritual contexts, as well as the first published AMS-dated charred organic residues on Volosovo pottery. The results confirm some recently presented views about chronology and further contradict the use sequence previously proposed for the sites. The discrepancies may be partially related to freshwater reservoir effect (FRE), but mostly to the problems in the quality and context of the conventional datings. The results are also briefly discussed in the background of general Volosovo chronology.