TY - JOUR

T1 - Archaeological sites as markers of hydrosystem transformation in the kurai and chuya basins, southeastern altai, in the late pleistocene and Holocene. Summary of findings and paleogeographic reconstructions

AU - Agatova, A. R.

AU - Nepop, R. K.

AU - Slyusarenko, I. Y.

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - This paper is the second in a series of publications on various aspects of the relationships between man and environment in the highlands of southeastern Altai. In these studies, we assess the impact of climatic changes (evidenced by processes of glaciation and deglaciation, the emergence of ice-dammed and residual lakes, soil and peat formation, and seismic activity) on the succession of sedentary and nomadic cultures, and on the ranges of their distribution, in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. Geochronological data on the evolution of Late Pleistocene ice-dammed lakes and Holocene residual lacustrine systems within the Kurai and Chuya intermountain basins, including our new fi ndings based on geomorphological, geoarchaeological, and geochronological approaches, were summarized in the fi rst paper of the series. Using Paleolithic sites for assessing the time in the Late Pleistocene when the Chuya paleolake emptied is unwarranted, because their estimated age limits are wide, many are likely redeposited, and most fi nds are random. However, analysis of the spatial distribution of in situ sites spanning the period from the Late Bronze Age to the Middle Ages has provided evidence regarding the transformation of Holocene hydrosystems. New radiocarbon dates indicate a substantial decrease of the Sartan glaciation before 14 ka cal BP, and desiccation of the last ice-dammed lakes within the Kurai and Chuya basins before 10 ka cal BP. The absence of Early Holocene archaeological sites in those areas may be due to the wide distribution of residual lakes in the bottoms of those depressions at that time.

AB - This paper is the second in a series of publications on various aspects of the relationships between man and environment in the highlands of southeastern Altai. In these studies, we assess the impact of climatic changes (evidenced by processes of glaciation and deglaciation, the emergence of ice-dammed and residual lakes, soil and peat formation, and seismic activity) on the succession of sedentary and nomadic cultures, and on the ranges of their distribution, in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. Geochronological data on the evolution of Late Pleistocene ice-dammed lakes and Holocene residual lacustrine systems within the Kurai and Chuya intermountain basins, including our new fi ndings based on geomorphological, geoarchaeological, and geochronological approaches, were summarized in the fi rst paper of the series. Using Paleolithic sites for assessing the time in the Late Pleistocene when the Chuya paleolake emptied is unwarranted, because their estimated age limits are wide, many are likely redeposited, and most fi nds are random. However, analysis of the spatial distribution of in situ sites spanning the period from the Late Bronze Age to the Middle Ages has provided evidence regarding the transformation of Holocene hydrosystems. New radiocarbon dates indicate a substantial decrease of the Sartan glaciation before 14 ka cal BP, and desiccation of the last ice-dammed lakes within the Kurai and Chuya basins before 10 ka cal BP. The absence of Early Holocene archaeological sites in those areas may be due to the wide distribution of residual lakes in the bottoms of those depressions at that time.

KW - Archaeological sites

KW - Holocene

KW - Hydrosystem transformation

KW - Ice-dammed lakes

KW - Intermountain depressions

KW - Late Paleolithic

KW - Late Pleistocene

KW - Radiocarbon dating

KW - Southeastern Altai

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85036497710&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.17746/1563-0110.2017.45.1.025-035

DO - 10.17746/1563-0110.2017.45.1.025-035

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85036497710

VL - 45

SP - 25

EP - 35

JO - Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia

JF - Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia

SN - 1563-0110

IS - 1

ER -