The DOI matches its Crossref record; 12 of the 12 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
THE EXTERMINATION OF THE ANCIENT RUSSIAN CITY OF YAROSLAVL AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 13TH CENTURY: THE LONG JOURNEY TO EXACT DATING
Abstract
This paper raises methodological issues of radiocarbon (14 C) dating of historical events based on data obtained during the excavations of the Russian medieval city of Yaroslavl. The city is of special interest to our study because of the precise time of its destruction by troops of Batu Khan mentioned in chronicles—the winter of 1238. To date in Yaroslavl, researchers have discovered 9 mass burials of citizens and domestic animals buried sometime after the massacre by the Mongols. Mass burials of people alongside animals in a common grave and outside of the cemetery, in violation of Christian traditions, are not typical of medieval Russia and are a sign of a military catastrophe. To test this hypothesis, we dated a total of 65 samples representing all 9 mass burials. A Bayesian chronological model of the accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates narrowed the interval to the range of 1197–1280 cal AD, with the mean age of 1239 AD, consistent with the hypothesis that the studied mass burials of citizens and livestock are related to the capture of the city by the army of Batu Khan.
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Cited by
Genetic Examination of Remains from the Two Largest Mass Burials of 1238 in Yaroslavl Detynets
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (National Research University), Mustafin, K. K., Engovatova, A. V., Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alborova, I. E., Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (National Research University), Tarasova, A. A., & Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (2022) · Povolzhskaya Arkheologiya (The Volga River Region Archaeology) · doi:10.24852/pa2022.2.40.215.230 · Cited by 3
A WINERY ON THE PHANAGORIA ACROPOLIS
Завойкин, А. А., & Завойкина, Н. В. (2021) · Краткие сообщения Института археологии (КСИА) · doi:10.25681/iaras.0130-2620.265.104-124
Batu Khan’s 1238 assault on Tver (Russia): a multi‐proxy catastrophe signaturePreprint
Zinoviev, A. V. (2026) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.6329484
Metadata
- Authors
- Engovatova, A. V., Cherkinsky, A., & Zaiseva, G. I.
- Affiliations
- Institute of Archaeology (RU)
- University of Georgia (US)
- Institute of History of Material Culture (RU)
- Corresponding author
- Cherkinsky, Alexander
- Venue
- Radiocarbon
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2020-12
- Volume
- 62
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1833-1844
- ISSN
- 0033-8222 (ISSN-L)
- 1945-5755
- OpenAlex
- W3135524556
- Cited by
- 3
- References
- 12
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 0.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Radiocarbon (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Archeology › Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology (arts and humanities) › Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Viking Age and Medieval Scandinavia
- Keywords
- Yaroslavl, Mongol invasion of Rus', Batu Khan, mass burials, 13th century
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- CoChat. (2026). Citation check: THE EXTERMINATION OF THE ANCIENT RUSSIAN CITY OF YAROSLAVL AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 13TH CENTURY: THE LONG JOURNEY TO EXACT DATING. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1017/rdc.2020.137
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- Engovatova, A. V., Cherkinsky, A., & Zaiseva, G. I. (2020). THE EXTERMINATION OF THE ANCIENT RUSSIAN CITY OF YAROSLAVL AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 13TH CENTURY: THE LONG JOURNEY TO EXACT DATING. Radiocarbon. https://doi.org/10.1017/rdc.2020.137
