Pontic-Caucasian Steppes Prehistory Cultures chronology doubts

[loco_aullador]

Hi i've been reading about Pontic-Caucasian Steppes Cultures for several weeks but i've found some troubles understandig its choronological order in the Neolithic, Calcolithic and Bronze Age. On some sites and publications some cultures are in the Neolithic or Calcolithic on some others that same cultures are on Bronze Age, and others dont mention Copper Age at all.

I made an excel sheet with all the cultures from most of West, Central and Northern Europe as well as Eastern Europe and Eurasian Steppes, mostly looking in wikipedia (i know its a very unreliable source but currently i dont have a book with as much info as wikipedia) but taking a close look at the references the writer used (for example that book is very often used in several entries in wikipedia: J. P. Mallory, Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997.). I searched some other sites, books and publications but what ones said others said otherwise.

I know that the soviets who discover the sites used a different system than their western collegues to date the cultures, maybe thats part of the problem. I dont know but is it possible that depending on the historian (western or eastern) some culture is dated on one age or another?. There was a lot of nomadic tribes in those cultures so i understand how difficult could be to date and clasify them.

Someone with good knowledge in this matter could tell me a good book, publication or site with a good chronology of the cultures in the steppes? Why some publications dont mention the Copper Age?. Hope someone could bring me some light. Although i've been reading history for years im a newbie in steppes related history so im a little lost. Thanx a lot.

[Maciamo]

I think what you need to read is The Horse, the Wheel, and Language by David Anthony. It retraces the history of the Pontic-Caspian steppes from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age.