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

Holocene hydrological variability of Lake Ladoga, northwest Russia, as inferred from diatom oxygen isotopes

This article presents a new comprehensive assessment of the Holocene hydrological variability of Lake Ladoga, northwest Russia. The reconstruction is based on oxygen isotopes of lacustrine diatom silica (δ18Odiatom) preserved in sediment core Co 1309, and is complemented by a diatom assemblage analysis and a survey of modern isotope hydrology. The data indicate that Lake Ladoga has existed as a freshwater reservoir since at least 10.8 cal. ka BP. The δ18Odiatom values range from +29.8 to +35.0‰, and relatively higher δ18Odiatom values around +34.7‰ between c. 7.1 and 5.7 cal. ka BP are considered to reflect the Holocene Thermal Maximum. A continuous depletion in δ18Odiatom since c. 6.1 cal. ka BP accelerates after c. 4 cal. ka BP, indicating Middle to Late Holocene cooling that culminates during the interval 0.8–0.2 cal. ka BP, corresponding to the Little Ice Age. Lake‐level rises result in lower δ18Odiatom values, whereas lower lake levels cause higher δ18Odiatom values. The diatom isotope record gives an indication for a rather early opening of the Neva River outflow at c. 4.4–4.0 cal. ka BP. Generally, overall high δ18Odiatom values around +33.5‰ characterize a persistent evaporative lake system throughout the Holocene. As the Lake Ladoga δ18Odiatom record is roughly in line with the 60°N summer insolation, a linkage to broader‐scale climate change is likely

Northern Eurasian large lakes history: sediment records obtained in the frame of Russian-German research project PLOT

Russian-German project PLOT (Paleolimnological Transect) aims at investigating the regional responses of the quaternary climate and environment on external forcing and feedback mechanisms along a more than 6000 km long longitudinal transect crossing Northern Eurasia. The well-dated record from Lake El´gygytgyn used as reference site for comparison the local climatic and environmental histories. Seismic surveys and sediment coring up to 54 m below lake floor performed in the frame of the project on Ladoga Lake (North-West of Russia; 2013), Lake Bolshoye Shchuchye (Polar Ural; 2016), Lake Levinson-Lessing and Lake Taymyr (Taymyr Peninsula; 2016-2017), Lake Emanda (Verkhoyansk Range; 2017). Fieldwork at Polar Ural and Taymyr Peninsula was conducted in collaboration with the Russian-Norwegian CHASE (Climate History along the Arctic Seaboard of Eurasia) project. Here, we present the major results of the project obtained so far

The first dated preglacial diatom record in Lake Ladoga: long-term marine influence or redeposition story?

Preglacial environments in Lake Ladoga, the largest European lake, located within the limits of the Scandinavian glaciations, are very poorly investigated compared to postglacial ones. They were primarily reconstructed based on the studies of terrestrial boreholes and outcrops, often incomplete and poorly dated. Previous diatom studies established that during the Eemian marine transgression, the Ladoga basin became a part of the marine Baltic-White Sea connection. However, the environments established in Lake Ladoga after the regression of the Eemian Sea are not known. This article discusses the first Early Weichselian (MIS5, similar to 118-80 ka) diatom record in Lake Ladoga obtained within the frame of the Russian-German research project PLOT. Low concentrations and selective preservation of diatoms in the preglacial sediments point to unstable high-energy environments. The presence of marine diatoms is thought to result from reworking of marine Eemian sediments, rather than direct marine influence. We argue that post-Eemian environments in Lake Ladoga were neither marine nor glaciolacustrine, as previously suggested. The Early Weichselian diatom record formed in a shallow-water part of a lake affected by inflowing streams transporting large amounts of eroded material. No analogues of the preglacial environments can be found in the postglacial Lake Ladoga. Our record demonstrates close similarity to other Early Weichselian diatom records in the Ladoga region suggesting their formation under the same conditions. Similar trends in concentrations of diatoms, diatom fragments and other siliceous microfossils reflect changing sediment supply, hydrodynamics or reworking intensity. Their lower values similar to 118-113 and similar to 90-80 ka could reflect the Early Weichselian cooling stages, while their increase between similar to 113 and 90 ka might indicate enhanced erosion intensity and increased sediment supply corresponding to the climate amelioration