Human-environment interaction during the Holocene along the shoreline of the Ancient Lake Ladoga: A case study based on palaeoecological and archaeological material from the Karelian Isthmus, Russia

This paper presents the results of pollen, diatom, charcoal, and sediment analyses from Lake Bol'shoye Zavetnoye, situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga on the Karelian Isthmus, north-western Russia. The main goal is to contribute to the discussion of Neolithic land use in north-eastern Europe. The article aims to answer questions related to Stone Age hunter-gatherer economy, ecology, and anthropogenic environmental impact through a comprehensive combination of multiple types of palaeoecological data and archaeological material. According to diatom data, Lake Bol'shoye Zavetnoye was influenced by the water level oscillations of Ancient Lake Ladoga during much of the Holocene. Intensified human activity and prolonged human occupation become visible in the Lake Bol'shoye Zavetnoye pollen data between 4480 BC and 3250 BC. During the final centuries of the Stone Age, a new phase of land use began, as several anthropogenic indicators, such asTriticum, Cannabis, andPlantago lanceolataappear in the pollen data and a decrease inPinusvalues is recorded. In general, the results indicate that socio-cultural transformations could have taken place already from the mid-5th millennium BC onwards, including new ways of utilizing the environment, perhaps also in the field of subsistence, even though the livelihood was based on foraging throughout the period.Peer reviewe

Human-environment interaction during the Holocene along the shoreline of the Ancient Lake Ladoga: A case study based on palaeoecological and archaeological material from the Karelian Isthmus, Russia

This paper presents the results of pollen, diatom, charcoal, and sediment analyses from Lake Bol'shoye Zavetnoye, situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga on the Karelian Isthmus, north-western Russia. The main goal is to contribute to the discussion of Neolithic land use in north-eastern Europe. The article aims to answer questions related to Stone Age hunter-gatherer economy, ecology, and anthropogenic environmental impact through a comprehensive combination of multiple types of palaeoecological data and archaeological material. According to diatom data, Lake Bol'shoye Zavetnoye was influenced by the water level oscillations of Ancient Lake Ladoga during much of the Holocene. Intensified human activity and prolonged human occupation become visible in the Lake Bol'shoye Zavetnoye pollen data between 4480 BC and 3250 BC. During the final centuries of the Stone Age, a new phase of land use began, as several anthropogenic indicators, such asTriticum, Cannabis, andPlantago lanceolataappear in the pollen data and a decrease inPinusvalues is recorded. In general, the results indicate that socio-cultural transformations could have taken place already from the mid-5th millennium BC onwards, including new ways of utilizing the environment, perhaps also in the field of subsistence, even though the livelihood was based on foraging throughout the period

The lichens and allied fungi from the Leningrad Region and Saint Petersburg in the lichen herbarium of the University of Tartu

The revision of specimens in the lichen herbarium of the University of Tartu revealed 127 specimens representing 86 species from the Leningrad Region and Saint Petersburg; these include Calicium adspersum published as a new species for the Leningrad Region and Carbonicola anthracophila reported for the first time for the Eastern Leningrad Region. A curious finding is Umbilicaria muehlenbergii, collected in 1954 in the northern part of Karelian Isthmus. Forgotten collections by Anne-Liis Sõmermaa (1972) from the territory of the modern Vepssky Forest Nature Park, by Haide-Ene Rebassoo (1988) from Maly Tuters Island (Vähä-Tytärsaari, Säyvö) and by Paul von Kühlewein (“regio Petropolitano”, 19th century) are of special interest.

Finnish-Soviet/Russian Scientific Cooperation in Archaeology: Results of the Journey 1969–2014

After World War II, a Committee for Cooperation in the Fields of Science and Technology between the USSR and Finland was founded in 1955, based on an agreement between the two countries. The committee included a working group for archaeology, founded in 1969, which provided an operational environment for scholarly cooperation: symposia, projects, exchange of researchers, and so on. In Finland, the working group operated within the frame of the Committee for Cooperation in the Fields of Science and Technology of the Foreign Ministry, while in the USSR it operated under the Academy of Sciences. The activities were planned in the sphere of the history of the Finno-Ugrian peoples and their relations with the Slavs, as well as investigations into the ethnogenesis of Slavs, Finno-Ugrians, and Balts in the 1st millennium AD. Also the subject of Russian-Finnish relations in the 8th–14th centuries was involved. The breakdown of the USSR in 1991 terminated the strictly institutional model of cooperation. The Committee for Cooperation in the Fields of Science and Technology between the USSR and Finland, as well as the working groups, were dissolved in 1992. A new organisation, the Commission for Scientific and Technical Cooperation between Finland and Russia, was established. The new situation provided opportunities for a new kind of activity based on a broader multi-disciplinary concept, while, on the other hand, the financing of symposia and other activities met with difficulties because there were no longer any established channels for financing. However, the Academy of Finland and the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) took care of the exchange of researchers between our two countries for some time and also provided funds for one symposium held in Helsinki. After 2004, there was a 10-year break in the tradition, as the Finnish party could not arrange a symposium because of various difficulties. Finally, in 2014, a 14th symposium was arranged in Helsinki. This article summarises the activities connected to the archaeological cooperation referred to above

Excavations at the Juoksemajärvi Westend Stone Age dwelling site in 2002

The first dwelling depression in the Karelian Isthmus was excavated in June 2002 jointly by Finnish and Russian researchers at the Juoksemajärvi Westend (Bol'šoe Zavetnoe 4) Stone Age dwelling site, in Räisälä municipality. There are altogether eight certain and two possible dwelling depressions known at the site; however, part of the site has been destroyed by a sandpit and thus originally there might have been even more depressions at the site. Excavations showed that the site had been used in various periods during the prehistory. The earliest occupation dates back to the Mesolithic Stone Age, which is attested by the find material and one radiocarbon date. The studied dwelling depression might date to the Early Combed Ware period but also Late Neolithic dating is possible based on finds and radiocarbon dates. Other parts of the site have also been inhabited during the Typical Combed Ware period . The nature of the site points to a relative residential sedentarity in all settlement phases and the site has been possibly used year-round

Stone Age and Early Metal Period Archaeology and Settlement Patterns in the Lake Pyhäjärvi Micro-Region, Karelian Isthmus, Russia

Recent Finnish-Russian research cooperation on the Karelian Isthmus, north-west Russia, has completely changed views on the area’s prehistory. In this paper we describe the methodology and results of archaeological field surveys and test excavations carried out in the so-called Lake Pyhäjärvi micro-region in 2005–2008. In the course of the project’s field studies, the number of Stone Age and Early Metal Period sites in the area increased tenfold, and the exceptional, well-stratified settlement site of Kunnianniemi with nearly three-metredeep archaeological deposits was located. Recent studies provide reference material for the recently studied nearby areas and a working framework for further inquiries related to, for instance, the spatio-temporal changes in the settlement pattern, material culture, subsistence base, socio-cultural structure, and contact networks