The MIS 3–2 environments of the middle Kolyma Basin: implications for the Ice Age peopling of northeast Arctic Siberia

Abstract

The Kolyma region is historically famous for the unique finds of large Pleistocene fauna, yet, until very recently, absent of the time‐corresponding occupation sites. Quaternary geology and palaeontology investigations (2013–2019) in the middle reaches of the Kolyma River (NE Yakutia) have delivered new evidence on the Last Glacial (MIS 4–2) to Early Holocene sub‐arctic ecosystems and the past landscape dynamics retrieved from the fossiliferous bodies exposed from thawed grounds. The palaeoecology multi‐proxies from the MIS 3 (55–24 ka) cryolithic formations document riparian, larch‐dominated northern forests and open parklands with backwater channels, marshlands and lakes. The abundant skeletal remains of Pleistocene ungulates and carnivores, as well as relic flora point to long‐term biomass‐rich interstadial ecosystems and favourable Palaeolithic occupation habitats. Utilized animal bones, worked mammoth ivory and stone tools show the presence of pre‐modern humans in the northeast Russian Arctic >45 000 years ago. Flaked mammoth tusks suggest persistence of settlement during the Last Glacial Maximum in xeric and extremely cold (sub)arctic tundra. The postglacial climate shifts triggered major environmental and hydrological transformations. The final Pleistocene/Early Holocene warming brought restructuring of the Last Ice Age landscape and vanishing of the periglacial tundra‐steppe replaced by the present‐day larch‐dominated Siberian taiga. The mid‐Last Glacial human ecology records from the geographical limits of northeast Siberia have fundamental relevance for the reconstructions of the time trajectories and the natural conditions of peopling of Beringia.

Sulfur Isotope Geochemistry of Ice‐Wedges in Yakutia, East Siberia

“…Zyryanka is located in the Kolyma Basin, the southern boreal region of the Kolyma River. This area is underlain by Holocene alluvial and Pleistocene lacustrine-alluvial deposits and is currently affected by thermokarst processes [38]. Ice-wedge samples were collected from two sites [32]: Site A, located on a tributary of the Kolyma River, 22 km north of Zyryanka (65.93°N, 150.89°E), and Site B, located 14 km west of the mouth of a tributary of the Kolyma River (65.82°N, 150.48°E).…”

Ecological Constraints and Drivers for Human Dispersals and Adaptations in the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Environments of the East Siberian Arctic

“…The East Siberian Arctic includes a rather large number of locations and sites represented by two groups (Figure 3A,B). The first characterizes the presence of people at an early stage and specifically at the maximum of cooling; these are the Diring-Ayan, Yana "A" area, and Lagernyi localities in the Yana cluster of sites, Ilin-Syalakh 034 [27,57], the upper horizon of the location of Zyryanka-1 [33], and the discovery of a punctured scapula of a mammoth on Wrangel Island [84] (Figure 1H-13, 17, 18, 19, 21, 20, respectively; Figure 3A). They belong to the era of the harsher environmental conditions, the Last Glacial Maximum, and their age is in the range of 27-23 ka.…”

The results of the study of vertebrate fauna from the Late Neolithic site Pomazkino IV (the Kolyma River, Yakutia, Eastern Siberia)

“…С окончанием плейстоцена произошли крупные изменения в климате, ландшафтах, растительных сообществах и в составе фауны Северо-Восточной Азии [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Тундростепной фаунистический комплекс сменился таежным комплексом.…”