A Multidisciplinary Study of Burial Mounds and a Reconstruction of the Climate of the Turan-Uyuk Depression, Tuva, During the Scythian Period

Abstract

This article presents the results of a multidisciplinary study of Beloye Ozero-3—an early nomadic cemetery in the Turan-Uyuk intermountain trough in Tuva, southern Siberia. The radiocarbon analysis of wood from four of its mounds suggests that they were constructed 2565–2390 (calibrated, 1σ), or 2465–2380 (uncalibrated) years ago. In four mounds with a complex construction, burials in timber frames, spoil heap, and the peripheral ring were overlaid by stones. In the third mound, there were stone slabs and the mound was encircled by a ditch. The construction of the fourth mound proceeded in two stages. A total of 12,744 m2 of space between the mounds was excavated, and 38 pavements for funerary repasts were found. Fragments of gold figurines of various animals, ceramics, and arrowheads can be attributed to the Uyuk culture. Results of the palynological analysis suggest that during the construction of the first two mounds, the climate was slightly wetter than the present one. When, 95 years later, the third mound was constructed, the climate became more dry. Before the final stage in the construction of the necropolis, humidization began. Environmental changes are evidenced by fluctuations in the amount and composition of pollen of plants adapted to various ecological niches: xerophytes, mesophytes, hydrophytes, and ruderals. Dry- steppe communities prevailed over mesophytic ones. Hydrophytic vegetation and larch grew near the water bodies. The anthropogenic pressure on landscape increased during the early and final stages of the necropolis, corresponding to the Uyuk culture. Background and ancient soils are largely similar, indicating relative stability of climate during the construction of mounds and its proximity to the modern climate.