Stone Age archaeological sites and environmental changes during the Holocene in the NW region of Russia

Abstract

The region of NW Russia connecting with the Baltic Sea presents a dynamic ecological system that was sensitive to environmental changes during the Holocene. Certain factors affected environmental changes in the region during the Holocene: deglaciation processes, that finally terminated about 9 cal ka BP; eustatic sea-level changes; and tectonic movements, which are basically considered in the region as isostatic uplift processes. Contextual remains of ancient human occupation sites can be the only evidence of surface stabilization in monotonous sediments, such as aquatic and subaquatic deposits. Prehistoric settlements also mark ancient shorelines. The latter is of great importance for studying the history of water oscillations and coastal-line displacements on the territory of NW Russia. The transgressive–regressive stages of the Baltic Sea (at c. 10.15 cal ka BP, the Ancylus transgression; at c. 7.6–7.0 cal ka BP, the Littorina transgression) have an impact on the positions of prehistorical sites. The complex investigations of the Stone Age archaeological settlements on the Karelian Isthmus and in the Dvina–Lovat’ basin, and their altitudes below sea level, allowed us to reconstruct palaeoenvironmental changes during the Holocene, the chronology of cultural–historical processes and the adaptation strategy of ancient people to environmental conditions in this territory.

Palaeoenvironmental reconstructions for the Neolithic pile-dwelling Serteya II site case study, Western Russia

“…The studied region occupies a particular place in research on the Neolithisation processes of Eastern Europe, hosting sites of the earliest ceramic ware connected with the primary ceramic centres of southern Eastern Europe (Mazurkevich, Dolbunova 2015;Kul'kova et al 2015a). It also supplies valuable evidence regarding the adaptation of Middle and Late Neolithic communities to the changing environmental conditions of the transition between the Atlantic and Subboreal Periods (Mazurkevich et al 2009a(Mazurkevich et al , 2017aKul'kova et al 2015b), where the construction of pile-dwellings might have been one of the forms of such an adaptation, which marks a cultural discontinuity and major environmental changes. 1 -moraine plateau, 2 -glaciofluvial plain, 3 -crevasse fills, 4 -kames and kame terraces, 5 -biogenic plains, 6 -flood plain, 7 -subglacial channel, 8 -valley slopes, 9 -alluvial fans, 10 -gullies, erosional cuts and proluvial-deluvial fans, 11site area, 12 -geological cross-section line (see Fig.…”

“…The appearance of pile-dwellings was probably a specific form of adaptation to the particular landscape and climatic conditions. The second stage of the existence of pile-dwelling settlement functioned near to (or even during) the 4200 years BP cooling event (see : Dolukhanov, Miklyayev 1986;Mazurkievich, Dulbanova 2011;Mazurkevich et al , 2014Kul'kova et al 2015b).…”

Geology and archaeology: submerged landscapes of the continental shelf: an introduction

“…They include technological advances in the reconstruction of deeply submerged palaeolandscapes and assessment of their archaeological potential (Cawthra et al 2015;Foglini et al 2015;Sakellariou & Galanidou 2015), detailed predictive modelling of the environmental and archaeological potential of submerged landscapes (Ward et al 2014), the discovery, interpretation and wider significance of underwater archaeological sites (Abelli et al 2014;Nutley et al 2014), detailed analysis of shoreline changes and their human impact combining geological, palaeoenvironmental and archaeological evidence (Ryabchuk et al 2014;Galili et al 2015;Kulkova et al 2015), and the effect of sea-level changes on patterns of human dispersal in key areas (Antonioli et al 2014;Glørstad 2014;Wurster & Bird 2014). Glørstad (2014) describes the peopling of Norway following the retreat of the Scandinavian ice sheet.…”

“…An area sensitive to vertical crustal movement and sea-level change is the Gulf of Finland, which is morphologically connected to the White Sea by the Karelian lowlands. The case studies of Ryabchuk et al (2014) and Kulkova et al (2015) both refer to this area. Kulkova et al (2015) describe the environmental changes due to the deglaciation of the area, which finally terminated about 9 kyr ago.…”

“…The case studies of Ryabchuk et al (2014) and Kulkova et al (2015) both refer to this area. Kulkova et al (2015) describe the environmental changes due to the deglaciation of the area, which finally terminated about 9 kyr ago. A combination of isostatic uplift and eustatic changes produced a complex pattern of transgressions and regressions that affected changes of lake levels well into the Holocene.…”