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Stable isotope data (δC and δN) from bone collagen are dietary indicators. The isotopic fractionation of the carbon and nitrogen atoms in the amino acid chains from collagen reflects the isotopic fractionation in the food proteins. Stable isotope values make it possible to distinguish herbivores from carnivores, and to further distinguish between marine and terrestrial sources of food.

The OSL (optically stimulated luminescence) dating method exploits dosimetric properties of grains of minerals naturally occurring in sediments and man-made materials.

In archaeology the OSL method is used to date pottery and other heated materials (e.g., bricks, stones, earth) or sediments related to archaeological finds. The significant improvement of the OSL dating method in recent years makes it applicable to objects ranging in age from 0 to 150 000 years (in some cases to 300 000 or more) with a typical accuracy between 5 and 10%. When compared with the radiocarbon method it makes possible dating objects containing no organic matter or originating in periods for which the radiocarbon method is less accurate due to the shape or lack of the calibration curve.

This paper discusses the details of recent advances in the method and several examples of its application to material from archaeological excavations of Medieval to Palaeolithic sites.

The climate shift towards wetter conditions at the transition from Subboreal to Subatlantic in NW-Europe (ca 850 cal. yrs BC; caused by a decline of solar activity), is also evident in South Siberia. Areas that initially were hostile semi-deserts changed into attractive steppe landscapes with a high biomass production, and therefore high carrying capacity. We focus on south-central Siberia where an acceleration of cultural development and an increase in the density of nomadic Scythian populations took place shortly after 850 BC. We hypothesize a causal relationship between the Scythian expansion and migration, and the early Subatlantic shift towards increased humidity.

Numerous natural events documented in instrumental, historical and palaeoclimate records clearly indicate that large regions of the Earth have experienced occurrences of both slow and rapid climate change in the past. Various proxy records of long duration demonstrate distinct cyclicities from eleven years to hundreds of thousands years that have been attributed to external forcing. Until quite recently, palaeoclimatic research has tended to focus on evidence for longer-term climatic change, especially on glacial to interglacial timescales. The duration of these oscillations are varied with approximately a 1500-year periodicity and therefore not related to the Earth’ orbital variations around the Sun. After a number of cooling/warming episodes (Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles) there are terminal dramatic coolings called Heinrich events with temperature drops up to about 5°C before a major warming event. Such a cycle of warming and cooling is known as a Bond cycle with a mean duration of 2500 years. Both marine and continental sediment records confirm these rapid shifts.

The Holocene climate has also been a time of major climatic and environmental change, although in the current interglacial the Earth has remained at a rather steady climatic phase over the last 10,000 years in comparison with the preceding climatic phases of the last glacial cycle. From more recent studies on ice cores and marine sediments, there is evidence that the Holocene climate closely parallels that in the preceding last glacial cycle.

The analysis of amorphous organic residues from archaeological and ethnographic collections provides direct evidence for the use of natural materials, which can help enrich interpretations of past societies. The value of this approach is increasing, driven by advances in extraction and analytical techniques that permit the analysis of an ever-wider range of compounds. However these approaches have not yet been targeted towards toxins based upon natural plant based poisons and narcotics. This paper will present the outline of a chemical analysis based approach to identifying trace residues associated with hunting poisons and sacred hallucinogens as well as poisons of a purely harmful nature. The successful exploitation of potentially lethal natural toxins can be taken as representative of the great ingenuity shown in man’s adaptation to the environment.

The age and genesis of palaeosols buried under barrows and within floodplain sediments in the centre of the Russian Plain have been studied. Palaeosols formed in the time interval from 10000 to 3500 BP are represented by steppe Chernozems attesting to less humid climate, whereas palaeosols dating back to the past 3500 years are represented by Podzolic and Grey Forest soils (Luvisols) attesting to humid climate. The periods of northward migration of steppe tribes into the forest and forest-steppe zone took place in the Middle Bronze Age and in the epochs of Cimmerian and Sarmatian culture (4000-3500, 3000-2700 and 2000-1700 BP, respectively) corresponding to phases with dry climate and the development of steppe Chernozems. Several intervals with active alluviation and soil burial on the floodplains have been identified: 10500, 8000, 4500 and 500 BP, as well as about 6500 and 2500 BP. These intervals correspond to the periods with colder climate.

This paper deals with questions of paleogeography of the Black sea’s coast in the late Holocene on the basis of new data that include the lithology, palynology and geochronology of coastal marine, lagoon and deltaic sediments. The palynological results have shown that the warmest and dry conditions prevailed in the intervals 4100-3950, 3500-3300/3200, 2800-2400, 1650-1300 and 1000-900/800 yrs BP. The maxima of humidity for the studied period correspond with the chronological intervals 4500-4300 and 3950-3500 yrs BP, coinciding with the spread of forest communities. During an interval from 2500 up to 1500 BP (V centuries BC – V centuries AD) the dominance of the steppes formation was interrupted by phases of wetter climate which caused at first expansion of the wood-steppe vegetation, and then wide circulation of broad-leaved woods in the landscape. The palynological data have revealed a peculiarity that is connected to the economic activity of the local population.

The study of the coastal morphology and sediment structure have revealed traces of two transgressive phases in relative sea level change for the time under consideration the first relates to the interval 4.2-3.7 ka BP, the second - covers last 1.5 ka. Complex litho-facial, archaeological and geochronological data testify to the existence of a period of downturn in sea level, which covers an interval from the end of the 2 millenium BP up to the middle of the 1 millenium AD.

Development of early human societies in Northern Eurasia depended on large-scale migrations combined with an indigenous evolution. The initial colonisation of Northern Eurasia by anatomically modern humans was proceeded by several migratory waves generally directed from the west to the east. Human displacements were triggered by environmental stress, and coincided with the coldest stages of the Last Ice Age (40,000-10,000 years before present, B.P.), when the conditions for livelihood were less severe in Eastern Europe and Siberia. The transition to Holocene at c. 10,000-9,000 yr. B.P. marked profound changes in the environment, with the rise of temperature by at least 6–12°C and increased humidity, leading to the extension of forests and the gradual establishment of present-day biogeographical zonality. Mesolithic lifestyle featured an increased sedentariness, combined with limited-scale seasonal transhumance. In the conditions of the northbound advancement of forests at 9000-7000 yr. B.P., a network of Mesolithic sites emerged north of the current arctic circle. This included the shelf of the Arctic Ocean, which became accessible, as the coastline was at least 150 km north of its present position. The ‘Neolithic revolution’ in Northern Eurasia occurred in the conditions of the thermal optimum, which became established at 8,000-7,000 yr. B.P., and led to the maximum expansion of forests, further increase of precipitation, the global rise of the sea level, and increased biological productivity of boreal landscapes.

The spread of Neolithic in northern Eurasia is seen as a combination of human migrations, cultural diffusion, with local inventions and adaptations, the intensity of which depended on the local natural and cultural environment. Based on the analysis of radiocarbon dates, archaeological and environmental evidence, we distinguished three basic processes in the Neolithisation of Northern Eurasia which are discussed in the article.

The migration of Scythians depended on climatic changes during the Bronze/Iron Age transition, which corresponds to Subboreal/Subatlantic climate periods. Data from oxbow lake sediments were used to distinguish climatic and environmental fluctuations. Climatic cooling started and humidity increased in the Late Subboreal. In the Bronze Age Subboreal draught farming spread and in the beginning of the Iron Age Subatlantic farming declined in East Europe. About 3500 years ago all the temperatures indices were about 1° higher and the precipitation was 50 mm more than nowadays. During the succeeding cooling at about 2500 years BP, the temperature was about 1° lower and the precipitation was a little greater in comparison with the modern indices. Precipitation decreased between the warming (3500 BP) and cooling (2500 BP). The biodiversity during the Bronze/Iron Age transition had an impact on the economy of Scythian cultures.

This study presents results of paleoclimatic reconstructions during the Holocene in Southern Siberia and Central Asia by means of a geochemical approach. For investigations the deposits of Kutudjekovo Lake (Minusinsk Depression), White Lake (Uyuk Depression), aeoline-paleosoil deposits from Arzhan -2 monument (Uyuk Depression) and loess-paleosoil deposits from Tepsey cross-section (Minusinsk Depression) were sampled. The determination of chemical composition was done by ICP-AES, SNC analysis and the Wesemael method. X-ray diffraction was applied for determination of clay compositions in the deposits. The granulometric composition was determined by means of the grain-size analysis. The correlation analysis and method of principal components was applied for processing. Radiocarbon dating and archaeological dating were applied for determination of age of the deposit. The results allow the possibility of reconstructing the climatic factors, affecting the sedimentary processes. The investigations showed the differences of local paleoclimatic conditions between Minusinsk and Uyuk depressions during the Holocene. The Uyuk Depression is characterized by warmer and drier paleoclimate, while the climate in the Minusinsk Depression was milder and damper. Most likely the landscape features of these depressions influenced the local climate. The synchronous climatic variations during the Holocene can be noted for both depressions. These developments have correlation with paleoclimatic events in the Mongolia region. On the whole, the climate in the period from 5000 years ago to 3000 years ago can be characterized as dry. About 3000 years ago in a cold climatic period the rise in humidity began. The humidity maximum was around 2500 years ago (1 millennium BC). The period from 2500 to 1500 years ago was most humid and warm.

The differences in occupation of the depressions by ancient people, probably, were linked to their paleoclimatic peculiarities. The occupation processes in the Minusinsk depression were more intensive and more diverse, then in the Uyuk depression. The abrupt increase of humidity, which was dated to about 2500 years ago in both areas, probably, resulted in the appearance of numerous tribes of the Scythian culture over the whole territory.