Kalis, Aris Joop

Stobbe, Astrid

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Special Volume 3 (2012), pp. 297–303Astrid Stobbe – Arie Joop KalisArchaeobotanical Investigations in the Trans-Urals(Siberia): The Vegetation Historyin Wiebke Bebermeier – Robert Hebenstreit – Elke Kaiser – Jan Krause (eds.), LandscapeArchaeology. Proceedings of the International Conference Held in Berlin, 6th – 8th June 2012Edited by Gerd Graßhoff and Michael Meyer,Excellence Cluster Topoi, BerlineTopoi ISSN 2192-2608http://journal.topoi.orgExcept where otherwise noted,content is licensed under a Creative CommonsAttribution 3.0 License:http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0Astrid Stobbe – Arie Joop KalisArchaeobotanical Investigations in theTrans-Urals (Siberia): The Vegetation HistoryTrans-Urals; palynology; climate; Bronze-Age; steppe.1 IntroductionDuring the 2nd and 3rd millennia BC a series of innovations emerged in the Trans-Uralssteppe (fortified settlements, metallurgy, chariots, the cultivation of grain is also underdiscussion), which apart from questions as to origin and genesis raises the question ofpossible triggers.1 The assumption of climatic change has been put forward,2 becauseespecially in the steppe climatic alterations lead to substantial changes in living conditionsand adaptations of economic structures.The recent German-Russian research project “Environment, Culture and Society ofthe Karagaily-Ayat Micro-Region,” supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG)and the Russian Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences (RGNF), attempts to in-vestigate the archaeology, settlement history, subsistence and environment of the BronzeAge Sintašhta and Petrovka cultures in the Trans-Urals region. In one of the settlementareas in the valley of Karagaily-Ayat (Oblast Cheliabinsk) three Bronze Age fortified set-tlements are being investigated.3 Archives for palynological investigations are the numer-ous depressions along the riverside, partly filled with water or already completely siltedup, containing organic sediments. These “water holes” provide the best conditions forresearch in a micro-region to record changes in vegetation and sedimentary depositionsduring the Holocene in order to answer important questions about economic activityand agriculture.42 Study AreaThe Karagaily-Ayat valley is located in the south-eastern fringe of the Ural Mountains,in the so-called Trans-Urals region (Fig. 1). The annual mean temperature is about 3.7°C,with an annual rainfall of 340–430mm. It is a continental climate with seasonal tempera-ture variations of > 30°C.The landscape is characterized by a gently rolling steppe with small patches of wood-land covered with feather grass of which not much is left today, due to extensive pasturingwith horses, cattle and sheep. In the 1950s, 60s and 70s the “Virgin Lands Campaign” wasinitiated by Khrushev to transform the steppes into farmland. Today, only small-scaleFor the following images all rights are reserved, in contrast to eTopoi’s Creative Commons licence usage:Fig. 1.1 e.g., Koryakova and Epimakhov 2007; Hanks and Doonan 2009.2 Koryakova and Epimakhov 2007; Shishlina 2008; Anthony 2009.3 For a summary see Krause et al. 2010.4 Gayduchenko 2002; Frachetti et al. 2010.298 Astrid Stobbe – Arie Joop KalisFig. 1 | Map of the study area. The pink and yellow squares mark the coring sites (map D. Knoll).cereal growing has survived and the steppe is actually regaining its former habitats, butin a degraded state. Natural birch woodland only occurs locally on soils with impededdrainage; pine woodland is present throughout the region.The Urals and their foothills are of special interest in respect to rich mineral and oredeposits. Moreover, in the immediate surroundings of the excavation, traces of ore miningprevailed dating back to the Bronze Age.53 Methods32 depressions have been drilled so far along the River Karagaily-Ayat (Fig. 1). The sedi-ment cores were examined by means of pollen and radiocarbon dating.Sample preparation for pollen and microfossil analyses followed a standard method.6Lycopodium tablets were added for the calculation of pollen concentrations.7The age of the sediment sequences was determined by means of radiocarbon dating.The samples (terrestrial plant macrofossils) were analysed by AMS (Acceleration MassSpectrometry) at the University of Cologne (Centre for Accelerator Mass Spectrome-try), Beta-Analytic (London-Florida) and the Curt-Engelholm-Zentrum Archäometrie(Mannheim/Tübingen). The 14C-results are calibrated via OxCal 4.17.84 ResultsSediments could be detected throughout the Holocene—except for the millennium be-tween 7000–6000 cal. BP. Most of them date back to the last 500 years. So far we couldnot find a deposition without hiatus.5 Krause et al. 2010.6 Faegri and Iversen 1989.7 Stockmaar 1971.8 Reimer et al. 2009; Bronk Ramsey et al. 2010.Archaeobotanical Investigations in the Trans-Urals (Siberia): The Vegetation History 2994.1 Vegetation DevelopmentTo date two cores have been analysed in detail. Profile “Weihe” was deposited between600 cal. BC and cal. AD 500,9 the FS-profile between 7200 cal. BC and the present day(Fig. 2). A number of gaps of several millennia lie between these periods.The FS-profile starts at 7200 cal. BC (zone 1). The dominating vegetation in the areaof investigation is composed of Artemisia and Poaceae with Chenopodiaceae playing aspecial role. The values for tree pollen (Betula and Pinus) reach only ca. 10%. From 6900cal. BC onwards (zone 2), the values for tree pollen rise up to more than 20% and Piceais now regularly proven. For the first time pollen grains from Ulmus, Alnus and Tiliaappear. The values for Poaceae reach more than 20%, while Chenopodiaceae decreasedown to 10%. The Artemisia curve, in contrast, is still dominant with more than 40%.A steppe landscape prevailed in the area of investigation, but along the river and on theedaphically advantageous locations more trees were found than in the Early Holocene.This vegetation remained unchanged until at least 5500 cal. BC. It is not possible to drawany firm conclusions about the following 1700 years, because there is another hiatus.About 3800 cal. BC (zone 3)—when sediments are again preserved—the tree pollen-values have not significantly changed, continuing with 20–25%. Now there is a strongeremergence of Picea and an increase of Pinus. Typical indicators of disturbances like Poly-gonum species appear more frequently. Myriophyllum decreases but the Spirogyra curvestarts. Between 3700 cal. BC and 2000 cal. BC no sediments are preserved.From 2000 cal. BC onwards (zone 4) deciduous trees rise and the Pinus curve declinesslightly. The indicators of disturbances remain the same, but the diversity of speciesincreases. The Triglochin/Potamogeton-type appears more frequently, while Myriophyllumalmost disappears.Between 900 cal. BC and cal. AD 1300 there is another hiatus in the FS-profile. But theperiod between 600 BC and AD 500 was deposited in the “Weihe”-profile.10 The pollendiagram shows tree pollen values between 20 and 30% and a wormwood-rich grass steppeprevailed.For the period from cal. AD 1300 until the present day (zone 5), tree pollen valuesbetween 20 and 30% could be shown in the FS-profile. The deciduous trees, Artemisiaand Chenopdiaceae decrease, whereas the Poaceae increase. Sparganium is more frequentnow.5 ConclusionThe results of the investigations carried out so far in the Karagaily-Ayat valley of theTrans-Urals region point to a high degree of stability of the vegetation in regard to climateand human impact.The values for tree pollen have remained the same since the 7th millennium cal. BC,but they have never exceeded the present values. The forest resources therefore seem tohave stayed constant since the Boreal (there is a lack of evidence for the time span between5500 and 3800 cal. BC and no statements regarding this aspect), so in contrast to otherauthors11 the palynological analyses could not find strong evidence for shifts of vegetationbelts caused by climate.All depressions show a different filling pattern that indicates that it is difficult tomake only climatic changes responsible, as postulated by Kremenetski et al.12 Deposits,and thereby also existent or nonexistent time slices, are—apart from a few trends—9 Krause et al. 2010; Kalis and Stobbe 2012.10 Krause et al. 2010.11 Levina and Orlova 1993; Lavrushin and Spiridonova 1999; Zakh, Ryabogina, and Chlachula 2010.12 Kremenetski, Tarasov, and Cherkinsky 1997.300 Astrid Stobbe – Arie Joop KalisFig.2|PollendiagramfromadepressionintheKaragaily-Ayatvalley(Trans-Urals).Archaeobotanical Investigations in the Trans-Urals (Siberia): The Vegetation History 301very broadly scattered in time. Therefore other possible causes could also have been localgeomorphology events, like consolidations of subsoils or meander cut-offs.To date the pollen-analytical studies do not show a strong influence on the vegetationin the Bronze Age. The diversity of species rises, but the appearance of ‘typical indicatorsof disturbances’ in the pollen diagram started before the fortified settlements developed.So far, neither the charred macro-remains nor the pollen grains give any indications foragriculture. Surprisingly, since the Boreal pollen grains are in the pollen spectra thatcorrespond in size, pore and annulus13 to the cereal type. The vegetational surveys ofthe region carried out within the scope of the project show that at the bottom of theKargaily-Ayat valley wild barley (Hordeum brevisubulatum subsp. nevskianum) is oftendominant and that its pollen type corresponds to the cereal type. Thus the pollen grainsof the cereal type that could be detected since the Boreal are presumably from wild barley.13 Beug 1961.302 Astrid Stobbe – Arie Joop KalisBibliographyAnthony 2009D.W. Anthony. “The Sintashta Genesis: The Roles of Climate Change, Warfare, andLong-Distance Trade”. In Social Complexity in Prehistoric Eurasia. Monuments, Metals,and Mobility. Ed. by B. Hanks and K. Linduff. Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress, 2009, 47–73.Beug 1961H.-J. Beug. Leitfaden der Pollenbestimmung für Mitteleuropa und angrenzende Gebiete.Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer Verlag, 1961.Bronk Ramsey et al. 2010C. Bronk Ramsey et al. “Developments in the Calibration and Modeling of Radiocar-bon Date”. Radiocarbon 52.2/3 (2010), 953–961.Faegri and Iversen 1989K. Faegri and J. and Iversen. Textbook of Pollen Analysis. Ed. by K. Faegri, P.E. Ka-land, and K. Krzywinski. Chichester/New York/Brisbane/Toronto/Singapore: Wi-ley, 1989.Frachetti et al. 2010M. Frachetti et al. “Earliest Direct Evidence for Broomcorn Millet and Wheat in theCentral Eurasian Steppe Region”. Antiquity 84.326 (2010), 993–1010.Gayduchenko 2002L.L. Gayduchenko. “Organic Remains from Fortified Settlements and Necropoli ofthe ‘Country of Towns’”. In Regional Specifics in Light of Global Models BC ComplexSocieties of Central Eurasia from the 3rd to the 1st Millennium. The Iron Age. Ed. byK. Jones-Bley and D.G. Zdanovich. Vol. 2. Journal of Indo-European Studies Mono-graph 46. Washington: Institute for the Study of Man, 2002, 400–416.Hanks and Doonan 2009B. Hanks and R. Doonan. “From Scale to Practice. A New Agenda for the Study ofEarly Metallurgy on the Eurasian Steppe”. World Prehistory 22 (2009), 329–356.Kalis and Stobbe 2012A.J. Kalis and A. Stobbe. “Archaeopalynological Investigations in the Trans-Urals (Si-beria). III International Northern Archaeological Congress (NAC) Khanty-Mansisk2010”. Vestnik NGU 11 3 (2012), 130–136.Koryakova and Epimakhov 2007L.N. Koryakova and A.V. Epimakhov. The Urals and Western Siberia in the Bronzeand Iron Ages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.Krause et al. 2010R. Krause et al. “Befestigte Siedlungen der bronzezeitlichen Sintašta-Kultur im Trans-ural, Westsibirien (Russische Föderation)”. Eurasia Antiqua 16 (2010), 97–129.Kremenetski, Tarasov, and Cherkinsky 1997C.V. Kremenetski, P.E. Tarasov, and A.E. Cherkinsky. “Postglacial Development ofKazakhstan Pine Forest”. Geographie physique et Quaternaire 51.3 (1997), 391–404.Archaeobotanical Investigations in the Trans-Urals (Siberia): The Vegetation History 303Lavrushin and Spiridonova 1999Y.A. Lavrushin and E.A. Spiridonova. “The Main Geological-Paleoecological Eventsof the Late Pleistocene and Holocene on the Eastern Slope of the Southern Ural”.In Native Systems of the Southern Urals. Ed. by L.L. Gaiduchenko. Chelyabinsk: Che-lyabinsk State University Press, 1999, 66–104.Levina and Orlova 1993T.P. Levina and L.A. Orlova. “Holocene Climate Rhythms of the South of WesternSiberia”. Geology and Geophysics 79.3 (1993), 38–55.Reimer et al. 2009P.J. Reimer et al. “IntCal09 and Marine09 Radiocarbon Age Calibrationcurves, 0–50,000 Years cal BP”. Radiocarbon 51.4 (2009), 1111–1150.Shishlina 2008N. Shishlina. Reconstruction of the Bronze Age of the Caspian Steppes. Life Styles and LifeWays of Pastoral Nomads. BAR International Series 1876. Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress, 2008.Stockmaar 1971J. Stockmaar. “Tablets with Spores Used in Absolute Pollen Analysis”. Pollen et Spores13 (1971), 615–621.Zakh, Ryabogina, and Chlachula 2010V.A. Zakh, N.E. Ryabogina, and N.E. Chlachula. “Climate and Environmental Dy-namics of the Mid- to Late Holocene Settlement in the Tobol-Ishim Forest-SteppeRegion, West Siberia”. Quaternary International 220 (2010), 95–101.Astrid Stobbe (corresponding author), Institut für Archäologische Wissenschaften,Goethe-Universität, Grüneburgplatz 1, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Germany,stobbe@em.uni-frankfurt.deArie Joop Kalis, Institut für Archäologische Wissenschaften, Goethe-Universität,Grüneburgplatz 1, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Archaeobotanical Investigations in the Trans-Urals (Siberia) - The Vegetation
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Archaeobotanical Investigations in the Trans-Urals (Siberia) - The Vegetation History

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