The Nature and the Man During the Early Neolithic in the Tobol-Ishim Interfluve

Natural conditions and their changes in the late Boreal – early Atlantic period (from ∼8200 to 7700 cal. yr BP) of the Holocene in the Tobol-Ishim interfluve are analyzed based on palynological and zoological materials obtained from archaeological and natural sections and bottom sediments, as well as on the analysis of the hypsographic position of settlements situated on the shores of Lake Mergen (Ishim District of Tyumen Region) where plane-bottomed and round-bottomed Early Neolithic dishes were found. According to author’s reconstruction, the climatic indicators and hydrological regime of Lake Mergen during that part of the Holocene were unstable. The altitude of ancient settlements, the proportion of steppe and forest flora and fauna changed. There were fluctuations in average annual temperatures and the amount of precipitations. The same territory was inhabited by both “local” species and mammals and birds whose habitats fell outside of the region. An Irish Elk (Megaloceros giganteus) of the Pleistocene era was found in the area under consideration. In the late Boreal period, when the water level in the lake was high, people built settlements on floodplain terraces. When the flooding diminished and the seasonal floods ceased, people began to settle on floodplains near the water. Two episodes of aridization can be singled out based on geochemical indicators of bottom sediments of Lake Kyrtyma. One episode was long and had a peak about 6200 cal. yr BP (optimum), another one occurred in the middle of the Sub-Boreal period and was shorter. The informational capacity of geochemical data, as well as that of spore/pollen indicators, is low (at least 100 years) and doesn't reflect short-term paleoclimatic events. The whole spectrum of data should be applied in order to reflect such events. In particular, hypsometric characteristics of ancient settlements are of great importance, because people react to changes in the hydrological regime faster than the flora and fauna do.

Paleoenvironmental reconstructions and a sedimentological evidence of paleoseismic activity ca 9000 yr BP in Karelia, NW Russia, based on lake sediment studies on Mount Vottovaara

Karelia, like the entire Fennoscandian Shield, is a region with a low seismic activity. An example of the best-studied locality is a paleoseismic dislocation on Mount Vottovaara, which bears traces of disastrous Holocene geological events following the degradation of the last ice sheet. The evolution of the study area falls into three stages. At pre-Quaternary stage I, an uplifted block broken by numerous fractures and faults was formed. At glacial stage II, coarse clastic moraine was formed, the moving ice polished the crystalline basement surface and glacial scars were formed. At final deglaciation stages, the mountain top remained a nunatak. As Salpausselkä II marginal sediments retreated by about 70 km from the mountain, a postglacial stage in the region’s evolution, at which an earthquake occurred, began. It could have been triggered mainly by the consequences of the degradation of the Late Weischelian glaciations such as the rapid removal of the glacial load that contributed to the rejuvenation of various old faults. Changes in paleoecological conditions for the Mount Vottovaara area were reconstructed based on the results of lithological, palynological, diatom and radiocarbon studies of bottom sediments from a small lake on the mountain top. Vegetation dynamics from the Younger Dryas to the Subboreal period is presented. Small lake evolution stages were distinguished based on analysis of diatom complexes and the pollen and spores of aquatic and aquatic-subaquatic plants and Pediastrum algae. The data obtained show that minerogenic sediments were abruptly succeeded by organic in the late Preboreal-early Boreal period. The thickness of Boreal sediments and changes in the composition of diatom complexes and spore-and-pollen spectra suggest a depositional hiatus triggered by a strong earthquake which changed the water level of the pond and its basin structure. The earthquake is also indicated by numerous dismembered, displaced, thrown-away and shifted rock blocks and seismogravity downfalls. Deflation and other types of weathering are responsible for the formation of seide-shaped piles of blocks and boulders on the mountain top.

Early Holocene hydrology and environments of the Ner River (Poland)

The Ner River valley (central Poland) underwent substantial transformation during the Weichselian–Holocene transition as a result of fluvial processes and climate changes, resulting in the establishment of its present shape in the Holocene. A multiproxy study based on organic deposits from a palaeochannel fill (Lutomiersk–Koziówki) shows that after the channel was cut off during the late glacial termination, it became a shallow oxbow, fed by local springs. In the Boreal period, the oxbow lake was also fed by precipitation and became a telmatic environment overgrown by rush and swamp vegetation. Finally, it was covered by overbank deposits. The first flooding phase (9900–9600 cal. BP) was followed by the accumulation of overbank sediments (after 9500 cal. BP) and flooding increased after ca. 9300–9000 cal. BP. Pollen data provide information on the regional vegetation context for local and regional changes. In the Atlantic period, an increase in both summer and winter temperatures is inferred from the pollen data, corresponding to an expansion of thermophilous deciduous forests. While in general, flooding phases of the Early Holocene are poorly recognised in Eastern Europe, the Lutomiersk–Koziówki site may be considered as one of the reference points for this phenomenon in the region.

Nemoral species of Lepidoptera (Insecta) in Siberia: a novel view on their history and the timing of their range disjunctions

Distributions in Siberia of nemorallepidopteran species, trophically or cenotically tied to broad-leaved (nemoral) forests or their phytocenotic derivates, display seven main types of range: Amphipalaearctic; Europe – West-Siberia – Far-East disjunctive; East-Europe – Altai – Far-East disjunctive; Altai – Far-East disjunctive; South-Siberia – Far-East; Transbaikalia – Far-East; Europe- Transuralia. An eastern origin can be traced for most of these species, with the exception of the last-mentioned type. According to palynological data, a continuous belt of broad-leaved forests was re-established during the Quaternary in North Eurasia at least twice: at the beginning of the Late Pleistocene and in the Middle Holocene. During the former the range of oak, as well as the fauna connected with it, was continuous through the Palaearctic. There is no reliable evidence for refuges of nemoral flora and fauna in Siberia during the last glaciation. We assume that the period since the Late Pleistocene (Kazantseva) Optimum (about 100,000-110,000 years) was sufficient for taxonomic divergence to species rank of western and eastern Palaearctic populations of Lepidoptera. During the Holocene climatic optimum the lepidopteran nemoral fauna could expand into a transpalaearctic distribution as a consequence of westward migration of eastern species due to an earlier optimum of broad-leaved forests in the eastern parts of Asia than in West Siberia and Eastern Europe. Disjunctive types of nemoral species range may have resulted from depletion of the forests with broad-leaved trees in Central Siberia during the Sub boreal period of the Holocene. Thus, they should not be dated to the late Pliocene - early Pleistocene, as was done earlier.

Charophyte Population Dynamics during the Late Quaternary at Lake Bibersee, Switzerland

Oospores of 11 charophyte species were found in the Late Quaternary gyttja deposits of Lake Bibersee near the town of Zug. Except for the Boreal period rarely more than three different species were growing simultaneously during the Holocene. This compares well to typical Characeae lakes of the same size today, and shows that considerable changes in the hydrophyte diversity have taken place through time. During the first part of the Holocene the lake was oligotrophic and the species composition was mainly regulated by lake-level fluctuations due to climatic factors. During the younger periods of the Holocene the lake became mesotrophic, and pH values were for a longer period slightly alkaline. During the Early to Middle Bronze Age (1900–1400 BC) the considerable alterations in the hydrophyte composition and the simultaneous extensive prehistoric agriculture on the fertile shores of the lake point to human impact as the primary cause for changes in charophyte diversity.

Source Criticism or Dilettanti? Some thoughts on "Scandinavia's Oldest House" in Tingby near Kalmar, Småland

ln a number of articles the so-called Tingby House is presented as a feature from the Boreal Period, a sensationally early date for so distinct a house remnant. This article questions the dating and, more particularly, the way in which it was obtained. lnadequate source criticism, improper use of 14C dating and the lack of rigorous presentation of evidence in the argument itself means that both the date and the excavators' method must be regarded with considerable skepticism. The probability that the Tingby settlement is a multi-component site is supported by the 14C date from 9 millennia, among other evidence, but is explained away in a methodologically unacceptable way by the excavators. The following article is thus a purely mcthodological comment, not a contribution to the Mesolithic debate.

Tree lines

Trees do not generally grow in places where the mean temperature of the warmest month is less than about 10 °C. At their limit, trees are often short and crooked, the condition known as krummholz ; and the transition from tall forest to dwarf shrubby vegetation is often abrupt, forming a distinct tree line. Tree lines fluctuate with climatic change. There is compelling evidence to suggest that they shift to higher elevations and higher latitudes in warmer periods. In northern Europe, they were about 200 m higher in the Boreal period when the temperature is believed to have been 2 °C warmer than now. Controlled-environment studies and tree-ring evidence also point to considerable sensitivity of growth at the tree line to fluctuations in the summer temperature. Forest vegetation differs aerodynamically from dwarf vegetation in being aerodynamically rough. Consequently, the temperatures of above-ground tissues are closely coupled to temperatures of the air. In contrast, shorter vegetation experiences tissue temperatures and microclimates that depend substantially on other climatological variables, notably radiation and wind speed. Short vegetation is, on average, warmer than the air; this is the main reason why dwarf shrubs can succeed in cold climates where trees fail to grow and reproduce. Water stress commonly occurs in late winter and early spring when soil water is frozen. The foliage of trees at the tree line displays an inability to restrict water loss, either because the epidermis is damaged by abrasion or because the cuticle does not properly develop in the reduced growing season. Consequently, the longevity of leaves is reduced. Winter damage to trees is also likely as a result of gales and the deposition of ice in the canopy, both of which break branches and may contribute to the generally misshapen form of the crown.

Holocene Climatic Change in the Middle Atlantic Area: Preliminary Observations from Archaeological Sites

Observations drawn from a variety of archaeological sites in the central Middle Atlantic area are presented as possible indicators of mid-Holocene climatic change. Alluvial deposition records, sediment accretion in rockshelters, episodes of aeolian deposition, and evidence of extinct ponds indicate a series of depositional discontinuities that are dated roughly between 4200 and 2200 BP. These discontinuities are correlated with the xerothermic conditions of the Atlantic/Sub-Boreal period.