Abstract
This work aims to integrate available radiocarbon dates and define chronological limits of the main Early Bronze Age cultural formations of North-Eastern and Eastern Kazakhstan. The study is based on the radiocarbon dates from burials and settlements of the “Yamnaya”, Elunino and other cultural types in the region. As a result of the research, the timeframe for the Early Bronze Age in the region has been defined as 29th - 18th c. BC. The lower boundary is outlined by the Eneolithic sites, while the upper one - by the monuments of the Andronovo Culture. It has been highlighted that while creating the radiocarbon chronological scale, ignoring of the freshwater reservoir and “old wood” effects, as well as rigorous sampling leads to its significant distortion. An attempt has also been made to correlate the chronology of the Early Bronze Age monuments of the region with these at the sites in the steppe and forest-steppe zones of Eurasia, as well as with the Eastern European Bronze Age periodization. As a result, the relative synchrony of historical moments and processes in the Eurasian steppe in the Bronze Age has been established. The observed discrepancies between the Eastern European and Asian periodizations apparently result from the insufficient research into the sites of the Asian steppe and forest-steppe zones.