Climate change and the expansion of the Scythian culture after 850 BC: a hypothesis

Geel, B. van; Bokovenko, N.A.; Burova, Natalia; Chugunov, K.V.; Dergachev, V. A.; Dirksen, V.; Kulkova, Marianna; Nagler, Anatoli; Parzinger, Hermann; Plicht, van der Johannes; Vasiliev, S. S.; Зайцева, Г.И.

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2004.05.004

Cited by 116 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…The century 2,800 to 2,700 cal. yr. BP is generally described as a cool phase with major consequences on the settlement structure of Central Europe (Berglund 2001;Haas et al 1998;Kilian et al 1995;Maise 1998;Tinner et al 2003;van Geel et al 1996van Geel et al , 1999van Geel et al , 2004van Geel and Berglund 2000;Zolitschka 1998;Zolitschka et al 2003).…”

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confidence: 99%

Seasonal variability of Holocene climate: a palaeolimnological study on varved sediments in Lake Jues (Harz Mountains, Germany)

et al. 2008

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Studies combining sedimentological and biological evidence to reconstruct Holocene climate beyond the major changes, and especially seasonality, are rare in Europe, and are nearly completely absent in Germany. The present study tries to reconstruct changes of seasonality from evidence of annual algal successions within the framework of well-established pollen zonation and 14 C-AMS dates from terrestrial plants. Laminated Holocene sediments in Lake Jues (10°20.7 0 E, 51°39.3 0 N, 241 m a.s.l.), located at the SW margin of the Harz Mountains, central Germany, were studied for sediment characteristics, pollen, diatoms and coccal green algae. An age model is based on 21 calibrated AMS radiocarbon dates from terrestrial plants. The sedimentary record covers the entire Holocene period. Trophic status and circulation/ stagnation patterns of the lake were inferred from algal assemblages, the subannual structure of varves and the physico-chemical properties of the sediment. During the Holocene, mixing conditions alternated between di-, oligo-and meromictic depending on length and variability of spring and fall periods, and the stability of winter and summer weather. The trophic state was controlled by nutrient input, circulation patterns and the temperature-dependent rates of organic production and mineralization. Climate shifts, mainly in phase with those recorded from other European regions, are inferred from changing limnological conditions and terrestrial vegetation. Significant changes occurred at 11,600 cal. yr. BP (Preboreal warming), between 10,600 and 10,100 cal. yr. BP (Boreal cooling), and between 8,400 and 4,550 cal. yr. BP (warm and dry interval of the Atlantic). Since 4,550 cal. yr. BP the climate became gradually cooler, wetter and more oceanic. This trend was interrupted by warmer and dryer phases between 3,440 and 2,850 cal. yr. BP and, likely, between 2,500 and 2,250 cal. yr. BP.

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confidence: 99%

Seasonal variability of Holocene climate: a palaeolimnological study on varved sediments in Lake Jues (Harz Mountains, Germany)

et al. 2008

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“…In order to increase sample size, we pooled Tagar sites and Pazyryk sites independently. All Tagar and Pazyryk samples date to the Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age (based on artifacts found with the skeletal remains or carbon-14 dating of objects found in the graves), and derive from locations in southern Siberia (Alekseev et al, 2002;van Geel et al, 2004). Pazyryk remains were not sampled from other locations that have associated remains, such as the Mongolian Altai (Jordana et al, 2009).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Iron Age nomads of southern Siberia in craniofacial perspective

Schmidt

Evteev

2014

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This study quantifies the population history of Iron Age nomads of southern Siberia by analyzing craniofacial diversity among contemporaneous Bronze and Iron Age (7th-2nd centuries BC) groups and compares them to a larger geographic sample of modern Siberian and Central Asian populations. In our analyses, we focus on peoples of the Tagar and Pazyryk cultures, and Iron Age peoples of the Tuva region. Twentysix cranial landmarks of the vault and facial skeleton were analyzed on a total of 461 ancient and modern individuals using geometric morphometric techniques. Male and female crania were separated to assess potential sexbiased migration patterns. We explore southern Siberian population history by including Turkicspeaking peoples, a Xiongnu Iron Age sample from Mongolia, and a Bronze Age sample from Xinjiang. Results show that male Pazyryk cluster closer to Iron Age Tuvans, while Pazyryk females are more isolated. Conversely, Tagar males seem more isolated, while Tagar females cluster amongst an Early Iron Age southern Siberian sample. When additional modern Siberian samples are included, Tagar and Pazyryk males cluster more closely with each other than females, suggesting possible sexbiased migration amongst different Siberian groups. This is evident in modern female Tuva, who cluster with modern female Kalmyk, while modern Tuvan males do not. Male and female Iron Age Tuvans are not closely related to modern Tuvan peoples living in the region today, resulting from the influx of the Xiongnu beginning in the Late Iron Age. Both male and female Pazyryk and Tagar crania appear more similar to Central Asia groups, especially the Kazakh and Uzbek samples. However, there is evidence that Tagar females have a common origin with the Yakut, a modern nomadic population that resides in northeastern Siberia. These results would suggest variable genetic contributions for both sexes from Central and East Asia.

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“…The hypothesis on the major geographic expansion during the early Scythian period apparently linked to ameliorated climate across mid-latitude Eurasia-with increased humidity due to reduced solar activity during the early first mill. BC (van Geel et al 2004)-should be treated with care. Most of the Altai-Sayan area was occupied by significant prehistoric populations before that time (see above).…”

Section: Prehistoric People and Environment Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental context and adaptations of prehistoric and early historical occupation in the Southern Altai (SW Siberia–East Kazakhstan)

Chlachula

2018

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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The Altai Mountains are well-known for their unique archaeological records, with rich, chronologically sequenced Palaeolithic, Neolithic and the Bronze Age (late fourth-early first millennium BC) sites and, in particular, the Iron Age Scytho-Siberian and early historical monuments represented by burial sites, ritual structures, and rock-art. The Altai prehistoric archaeological localities are distributed across a broad range of topographic and ecological settings, encompassing altitudinal zones from 800 m asl in the lower reaches of glacial river valleys up to 2500/3000 m asl on the high mountain plateaus. The partial spatial overlap of these (often multi-component) geoarchaeological loci over time suggests that similar adaptive strategies were employed by countless generations of hunter and later nomadic communities-their actions constrained by the locally specific forms of (palaeo-)relief and the associated ecosystems. The dynamics of the initial occupation of the boreal and alpine Altai landscapes and subsequent processes of (re-)colonisation during the Final Pleistocene-Holocene transition are directly linked to transformations in the regional hydrological systems after the LGM. The principal settings for early pastoral settlements were the xerothermic grasslands that formed on the flat glacio-lacustrine terraces which rise above the modern fluvial floodplains-the remains of ice-dammed wastage lake basins drained at the end of the Pleistocene (15,000-13,000 year BP). Marked climatic changes, evidenced by regional variations in temperature and humidity across the territory, are well attested in the geological, biotic and archaeological records. The initial Sub-Boreal aridification correlated with the beginnings of the Altai Bronze Age traditions continued until the early Iron Age-causing an expansion of parkland-steppe in the main valleys and a forest retreat in the foothills. Mountain steppes constituted the most essential food-procurement habitat for the Holocene prehistoric and historical settlements of Southern Altai. The current degradation of insular alpine permafrost poses an imminent threat to preservation of the region's most precious archaeological monuments-the frozen burial mounds of the Pazyryk culture (sixth-third century BC) belonging to the UNESCO World cultural heritage.

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Climate change and the expansion of the Scythian culture after 850 BC: a hypothesis

Cited by 116 publications

References 16 publications

Seasonal variability of Holocene climate: a palaeolimnological study on varved sediments in Lake Jues (Harz Mountains, Germany)

Seasonal variability of Holocene climate: a palaeolimnological study on varved sediments in Lake Jues (Harz Mountains, Germany)

Iron Age nomads of southern Siberia in craniofacial perspective

Environmental context and adaptations of prehistoric and early historical occupation in the Southern Altai (SW Siberia–East Kazakhstan)

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