Human occupation of South Eastern Altai highlands (Russia) in the context of environmental changes

Агатова, А. Р.; Непоп, Р. К.; Бронникова, М. А.; Slyusarenko, I. Y.; Orlova, L.A.

doi:10.1007/s12520-014-0202-7

Cited by 33 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Associated with the glacial degradation final draining of ice-dammed lakes in the Chuya and Kurai intermountain depressions (Butvilovsky, 1993;Rudoy, 1995;Carling et al, 2002 andHerget, 2005) took place about 15.8 ± 1.8 ka, as it is evidenced by terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide dating (Reuther et al, 2006). The development of the Sartan ice-sheet glaciation within the framing ridges of the Chuya basin about 14 ka BP (Rudoy, 2005) does not confirmed by radiocarbon age of paleopeat in the Chikhachev range (Agatova et al, 2016). 4) South Altai, the South Altai and Sailugem ranges, the Ukok plateau (southern border of this area goes along the Tabyn-Bogdo-Ula range which is affected by modern glaciation).…”

Section: Regional Oroclimatic Features Controlling the Pleistocene Glmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pleistocene glaciations of the SE Altai, Russia, based on geomorphological data and absolute dating of glacial deposits in Chagan reference section

Агатова

Непоп

2017

Geochronometria

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Geomorphological evidence of at least two Pleistocene glacial epochsis noted within the Chagan-Uzun river basin, SE Altai. A review and analysis of all available absolute dates for reference Chagan section is presented. The highest correlation amongst all TL dates is observed for the lens of glacio-lacustrine sediments -the most suitable among glacial deposits for luminescence dating, and indicates its possible Middle Pleistocene age. IRSL dates obtained from feldspar indicate a Middle Pleistocene age of moraines already in the upper part of the section. The small number of obtained IRSL dates does not allow making geochronological reconstructions of the Pleistocene glaciations, but gives the possibility for further experiments with different variation of OSL (IRSL) techniques. Strong low temperature peak in TL signal and strong response to IR stimulation are specific regional quartz features, which could be explained by combination of short transportation distance and low number of depositional cycles for mineral grains. Available radiocarbon dates of carbonate concretions from this section are not related to the age of moraine sedimentation and most likely indicate the period of the Chagan river incision into the ancient glacial deposits. This study has shown that TL method is not valid for dating glacial sediments and TL dates cannot be utilized as chronostratigraphic markers. Generally, the Chagan section could hardly serve as a reference section for the Altai stratigraphy; available depositional correlation schemes for the Russian Altai and Siberia which are based on several TL dates obtained in the last century needs to be improved.

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Section: Regional Oroclimatic Features Controlling the Pleistocene Glmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pleistocene glaciations of the SE Altai, Russia, based on geomorphological data and absolute dating of glacial deposits in Chagan reference section

Агатова

Непоп

2017

Geochronometria

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“…This most recent, early Holocene mountain lake is believed to have drained at ca. 8200 cal/year BP, prior to the Holocene climatic optimum (Agatova et al 2016;2017a). The most recent deepwater lacustrine ponds of the former ice-dammed lakes in the intermontane basins of Gorno Altai disappeared sometime after 5000 years ago (Rudoy 2001), leaving behind a sequenced series of down-grading riverine terraces modelling the present landscape.…”

Section: Geography and Geological Historymentioning

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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“…At the same time, preliminary studies, using (among others) the geoarchaeological method (Agatova et al, 2016), have revealed a number of issues relating to the possible existence of a single lake in the Chuya basin in the Holocene; the chronology of its level's recessions; the time, causes, and character of its fi nal drying.…”

Section: Debating-points Concerning the Existence Of Archaeological Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Neverthe less, the cataclysmic draining-the most powerful on the Earth-of the ice-dammed reservoirs that existed here in the Neopleistocene (Butvilovsky, 1993;Rudoy, 2005;and others), and the hydrological system's transformation in the Holocene, considerably less broad-scale but no less important for distribution of people (Rusanov, 2010;Agatova et al, 2016), have been modeled exactly for this territory. Despite a high degree of geomorphological certainty as to the Southeastern Altai, the chronology of the natural events during the Neopleistocene and Holocene in this region is a matter for considerable debate, which often assigns the roles of age-markers to the archaeological sites.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Archaeological sites as markers of Neopleistocene-Holocene hydrological system transformation in the Kurai and Chuya basins, Southeastern Altai: Results of geomorphological and geoarchaeological studies

Агатова¹,

Nepop²,

Slyusarenko³

et al. 2016

AEAE

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Human occupation of South Eastern Altai highlands (Russia) in the context of environmental changes

Cited by 33 publications

References 22 publications

Pleistocene glaciations of the SE Altai, Russia, based on geomorphological data and absolute dating of glacial deposits in Chagan reference section

Pleistocene glaciations of the SE Altai, Russia, based on geomorphological data and absolute dating of glacial deposits in Chagan reference section

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

Archaeological sites as markers of Neopleistocene-Holocene hydrological system transformation in the Kurai and Chuya basins, Southeastern Altai: Results of geomorphological and geoarchaeological studies

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