Remains of the Baikal yak (Poehpagus mutus baikalensis N. Verestchagin, 1954) from Late Pleistocene localities of Southern Siberia

136 bones of the postcranial skeleton and a part of the skull of a female Baikal yak (Poephagus mutus baikalensis N. Verestcthagin, 1954), originating from 18 cave locations and open-type Paleolithic sites in Altai-Sayan, Transbaikalia and Central Mongolia were examined. The material includes 38 metacarpals and 9 metatarsals of the yak. Morphometric differences in the structure of the postcranial skeleton of the yak and the bison (Bison priscus Bojanus, 1827) were revealed. The body size of the Baikal yak significantly exceeded that of the wild Tibetan yak (Poephagus mutus Przewalski, 1883). The largest representatives of P. m. baikalensis inhabited the Altai Mountains. In most of the sites, located in the mid-mountain landscapes of Southern Siberia (with absolute heights of 500–700 m), only a few remains of the Baikal yak were found, accounting for 0.01% to 1–2% of the number of megafauna remains. Most likely, herds of yaks did not live here permanently, but appeared only sporadically, during seasonal migrations. In higher mountainous areas (from 1000–1500 m) of Gorny Altai and Khangai Mountains in Central Mongolia, the proportion of the remains of the Baikal yak increases significantly – up to 16–22%. Like the contemporary P. mutus, the Pleistocene yak found its ecological optimum in the high-mountainous parts of ridges and mountain plateaus, dominated by cold, dry mountain-steppe landscapes with herb-grass vegetation and a small amount of snow. During the periods of cryochrones, the area of P. m. baikalensis apparently expanded significantly, incorporating the adjacent foothill territories. During the periods of thermochrones, it was most likely limited to the high-mountainous areas of the mountain uplifts of Southern Siberia.

Endless skies and open seas – how birds and fish navigate

Every year, billions of animals leave their home range and start seasonal migrations in order to find more favorable resources and to escape harsh environmental conditions. These round trips often span thousands of kilometers. To successfully navigate along their route, animals rely on various external references. While landmarks and celestial cues like stars or the sun are easy to imagine as guidance on these journeys, using the geomagnetic field for orientation is more elusive. The geomagnetic field is an omnipresent cue, which can be sensed and relied upon by many animals, even when visual cues are sparse. How magnetic fields can be perceived seems to vary between birds and fish. While birds seem to use a mechanism based on the quantum mechanical properties of electron spins, fish may have evolved a compass similar in its function to the technical devises developed by humans. How these mechanisms work precisely and how they are integrated are research questions addressed in SFB 1372.

Geographical Distribution Of Dioxins, Cadmium And Mercury Concentrations In Reindeer Liver, Kidneys And Meat In The Russian Far North

Reindeer herding is a vitally important agricultural sector in the Russian Far North. It is believed, that Nothern ecosystems are prone to accumulation of persistent pollutants for the reasons of trophical chains, features and climate. Reindeers graze on vast areas, having seasonal migrations on distances up to hundreds kilometers in one side in North-South direction, that increases likehood to cross a locally polluted area. Here we present results of a large-scale countrywide study of reindeer liver, kidneys and meat pollution by dioxins, cadmium and mercury. Samples were taken in 2015-2020 years from 41 locations in 8 reindeer-herding regions of Russia. Dioxins were determined in 383 samples of liver and 13 of meat, cadmium and mercury – in 505 samples of liver, 315 of kidneys and 22 of meat. Dioxin pollution has shown a clear geographical trend: liver concentrations gradually decrease from the Western to the Eastern parts on the country, with the highest concentration of 76.5 pg/g of fat WHO-TEQ. The following factors are likely to explain the discovered trend: localization of chemical enterprises and density of reindeer population. The highest concentrations of metals were found in kidneys (7.3 mg/kg of cadmium and 1.1 mg/kg of mercury). The contribution of local sources to cadmium and mercury pollution was found to be less, than expected. We also speculate, that reindeer liver may serve as a good additional indicator of environmental pollution by the investigated contaminants.

Early Mesolithic habitation in the Shpan-Koba grotto (Crimea, Ukraine)

Shpan-Koba Grotto is currently the only stratified Mesolithic and Neolithic site on the plateau of the First Range of the Crimean Mountains (Yayla). Lower Early Mesolithic cultural layers of the site (archaeological unit 3) have exceptional preservation due to the rapid accumulation of sediment and infrequent settlement of the grotto. Their planigraphy, number and composition of the artifacts can tell about the peculiarities of the economical use of the landscapes and rock shelter of the Crimean highlands at that time. Cultural layers of archaeological unit 3 date back to time from 11500 to 7600 years cal BP, which belongs to Early Preborial. At this time, the climate was colder and wetter than today, the plateau of the Yayla around Shpan-Koba was covered by mesofit steppes, pine, birch and juniper grew on the slopes of the mountains. According to archaeozoological data, the fauna of the Yayla included such representatives of steppe landscapes as saiga and horse, and simultaneously typical forest animals — red deer, brown bear and lynx. All cultural layers of the unit 3 are very similar. They belong to the type of "ephemeral": are represented by small fires, few bones of hunted animals and single flint artifacts. The layers were left by the bearers of the Swiderian culture, due to very few flint artifacts, among them: swidrian points, segment, backed blades, straight dihedral burin, end-scrapers. More than half of the found flint artifacts are retouched tools, the rest — blades and flakes, have the traces of use in the form of macro retouch. Such composition of the flint inventory indicates on the hunters (“expeditional”) character of the habitations in the Shpan-Koba grotto. The planigraphy of all layers of the unit 3 was similar too. It corresponds to classic ethnographical «Drop-Toss model» be L. Binford, which describe the organization of the living space around the hearth by a group of people from one to five people (Binford 1978; 1983). The central object in each of the cultural layers was one hearth about one meter in diameter with the thin charcoal lens and little piece of burned clay under it. Three concentric zones were traced around the hearths on the western, southern, and southeastern sides: 1) without artifacts; 2) with little bones and flint artifacts (Drop zone); 3) with bigger bones (Toss zone). The "asymmetrical" location of the finds in relation to the hearths indicates the absence of artificial housing in the grotto. The only exception is the habitation of the 3-5/6 cultural layer, in which a small wall of stones was excavated. For it, the "symmetrical" location of the finds around the hearths can be assumed to be an artificial structure made of plant materials, such as a brush windbreak or a hut. The windbreak could also exist in the habitation of layer 3-2, judging by the lack of a Toss zone in the south-western part. The presence of only one hearth in each of the cultural layers, the location of the artifacts relative to the hearth and their number, the composition of hunting prey, etc., evidence, that Shpan-Koba grotto in the Early Mesolithic was used as dwelling of little group (4—5 people). The occupation, probably, was very short terming, due to small and low-power fires, very few bones of animals and single flint artifacts, which were found in сertain layers. Their purpose was recreation, skinning and butchering of hunting prey, repair of hunting equipment and more. Seasonality of the Early Mesolithic dwellings in the grotto, due to archaeozoological data, fall on warm time — spring and summer (Benecke 1999, s 83, abb. 10). The aim of the swidrian people’s hunting expeditions to Yaila was hunting, first, on the saiga and red deer, which migrated from from the steppes of northern Crimea. The number of the red deer also increased in the First Range of the Crimean Mountains during warm seasons. The bones of the brown bear in many layers suggest that it was also an attractive prey. Key words: Crimea, Ukraine, Early Mesolithic, habitation, seasonal migrations, Swiderian.

Turbulent Ethnopolitical Processes in the Eastern Taurica in the Sixth and Seventh Centuries

This paper presents the results of archaeological researches allowing the one to reconstruct ethnopolitical processes in the eastern Taurica in the sixth and seventh centuries. By the sixth century, the eastern Crimean steppes were depopulated and used for seasonal migrations of the Hunnic tribes. The Byzantine Empire made a significant influence on the ethnopolitical processes in the Bosporos in the sixth and seventh centuries when annexed this country in 527/528. Archaeological researches supply scanty information about the urban buildings of the Bosporan capital in the sixth century. Alternative archaeological situation developed with the preserved Early Byzantine layers of the Bosporan town of Tyritake, where continuous many-year-long archaeological research uncovered large areas. According to the archaeological materials and a few epigraphic finds, Bosporan Greeks constituted the overwhelming majority of the population of Tyritake in the sixth century as before, being mostly the persons of moderate means, engaged in fishing and agricultural production, crafts and petty trade. After the raid of the Turks in 576, Bosporos and Tyritake declined, with only isolated residential houses reconstructed in certain areas in these towns; these houses lived to the third quarter of the seventh century when they were burned down by the Khazars. Bosporos constantly experienced the pressure from nomadic hordes, which, over the centuries, moved here and there, replacing each other, along the great tract of the steppes. The turbulence of ethnopolitical processes in the Eastern Taurica especially intensified in the Early Byzantine Period. Following the Khazar devastation, all the Bosporan settlements were depopulated, and the insignificant remnants of the former population concentrated in the fire-ravaged town of Bosporos, which for centuries became an out-of-the-way provincial town forming a part of different polities.