Climate and environmental dynamics of the mid- to late Holocene settlement in the Tobol–Ishim forest-steppe region, West Siberia

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Abstract

Environmental archaeology multi-proxy records provide eloquent evidence of climate changes and the related natural transformations in the forest-steppe/parkland zone of SW West Siberia during the last ca. 8500 years from the late Boreal to Sub-Atlantic period, chronologically encompassing the regional cultural evolution time span from the Mesolithic through the Neolithic, Aeneolithic, the Bronze and Iron Ages to historical times. Close links of the palaeoclimate conditions and the early occupation migrations in the Tobol–Ishim region are manifested by specific socio-economic adaptive patterns reflecting landscape dynamics and availability of natural resources as well as scale and intensity of broader territorial cultural interactions. Pollen spectra from the investigated stratified archaeological sites and palynological sections indicate large-scale landscape restructurings related to both the natural as well as intensified anthropogenic activities.

The periodic climate aridization of the Central Asian climate regime leading to the northern expansion of steppes in the south of West Siberia repeatedly activated inflow of pastoralist communities from the south-west further north and east into the former forest-steppe and taiga parkland zones at several stages during the Holocene. In contrast, during the moderately cold and humid intervals with intensified precipitations due to the strengthening influence of the Atlantic atmospheric streams, aboriginal groups of hunters and fishermen linked to the antecedent West Siberian and Trans-Ural Mesolithic cultures expanded into the former open southern steppe regions in the process of re-establishment of the southern taiga parkland/forest environments. These climatically-triggered vegetation zone shifts and territorial population movements are well manifested in the material culture.

Introduction

Palynological investigations represent an integral part of modern multidisciplinary environmental archaeology studies. Their application in terms of reconstruction of changing natural habitats of stratified cultural monuments (settlement as well as burial sites) in the Western Siberian Lowlands has been, however, systematically employed relatively recently. This also concerns palynological studies on prehistoric and early historical pastoralist traditions in the Tobol–Ishim parkland-steppe and southern taiga area carried out since the 1990s (Zakh et al., 2008). About 25 investigated principal sites and several deeply stratified turf-lake localities have been subjected to detailed pollen analyses producing rich palaeoclimate and ecology records of the regional inhabitation dynamics of this vast and ecologically productive geographical territory (Fig. 1, Fig. 2).

The present inter-disciplinary environmental archaeology studies are located in the south-western part of the West Siberian Plain, still regarded as “peripheral” in terms of long-term research. The regional occupation history is documented for the last ca. 30 ka, with the earliest Upper Palaeolithic sites distributed along the southern margin of the plain. The multi-proxy palaeoecology studies of the Holocene cultural development in conjunction with the established chronostratigraphy of single sites allow more detailed spatio-temporal reconstructions of the settlement history in the framework of climate evolution and in the context of the associated environmental transformations.

The present paper summarizes the current evidence on the natural changes in the forest-steppe/parkland zone of West Siberia during the last ca. 8500 years. Most information relates to the Sub-Boreal and Sub-Atlantic Periods, corresponding to the time span from the West Siberian Mesolithic through Neolithic, Aeneolithic, Bronze and Iron Age to the Middle Age. Despite the detailed studies, some early occupation time intervals are palynologically less documented due to the reduced availability of the pollen databases and their preservation. The research results suggest that the main factor behind the reconstructed environmental fluctuations and the associated shifts in human occupation was humidity, whereas temperature played only a minor role in this process.

Section snippets

Geography and natural conditions of the study area

The principal study area lies at the SW margin of the West Siberian Plain– a principal physiographic feature of northern Eurasia– a lowland territory delimited by 54–58°N and 63–72°E (Fig. 1). From the west, the area is bordered by the southern/central Ural foothills (Transuralye), from the south by the Palaeozoic hills of Central Kazakhstan, and by the vast lowlands of the Ob and Irtysh Basins from the north and east, respectively. The southern West Siberian territory is a mixing zone of the

Pre-Holocene occupation

In view of the existing evidence, time of the initial peopling of the south-western part of West Siberia is linked to the mid-Last Glacial interstadial interval (MIS 3). A most distinct complex of open-air Upper Palaeolithic localities in the Sosva River basin at the western periphery of the West Siberian Plain (Central Trans-Urals) located NW of the Tobol–Ishim region in the present southern taiga zone, attest, in conjunction with the associated ivory/bone and stone industry, to the presence

Late Boreal to early Atlantic periods

From the Late Boreal to the Boreal/Atlantic transition period (ca. 8500–7700 BP), corresponding to the late Mesolithic and early Neolithic stages, birch forests with admixture of alder and pine in the northern regions, analogous to the modern northern forest-steppe area, largely prevailed. Pine forests almost disappeared in the southern parkland zone. This time period, corresponding to the Boreal climatic optimum, was warmer and more humid comparing to the present. Natural conditions in West

Conclusion

The present environmental archaeology multi-proxy records provide eloquent evidence of a close dependence of palaeoclimatic conditions and early occupation migrations with specific economic adaptive patterns in the Tobol–Ishim region of Western Siberia, reflecting landscape dynamics and availability of natural resources as well as scale and intensity of broader territorial cultural interactions. Pollen spectra from the investigated stratified archaeological sites and turf sections indicate the

Acknowledgments

The Quaternary and environmental archaeology studies in the Tobol–Ishim area of West Siberia were supported by the Institute of Northern Development, the Siberian Branch of RAS, Tyumen.

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