Abstract
Reconstructions of early human occupation of high-altitude sites in Central Asia and possible migration routes during the Holocene are limited due to restricted archaeological sample material. Consequently, there is a growing interest in alternative approaches to investigate past anthropogenic activity in this area. In this study, fecal biomarkers preserved in lake sediments from Lake Chatyr Kol (Tian Shan, Kyrgyzstan) were analyzed to reconstruct the local presence of humans and pastoral animals in this low-human-impact area in the past. Spanning the last ~11,700 years, this high-altitude site (~3,500 m above sea level) provides a continuous record of human occupancy in Western Central Asia. An early increase of human presence in the area during the mid-Holocene is marked by a sharp peak of the human fecal sterol coprostanol and its epimer epicoprostanol in the sediments. An associated increase in 5β-stigmastanol, a fecal biomarker deriving from herbivores indicates a human occupancy that most probably largely depended upon livestock. However, sterol profiles show that grazing animals had already occupied the catchment area of Lake Chatyr Kol before and also after a significant presence of humans. The biomarker evidence in this study demonstrates an early presence of humans in a high-altitude site in Central Asia at ~5,900 - 4,000 a BP. Dry environmental conditions during this period likely made high altitude regions more accessible. Moreover, our results help to understand human migration in Western Central Asia during the early and mid-Holocene as part of a prehistoric Silk Road territory.
Highlights
There is growing evidence that human occupation of high-altitude sites [>3,500 m above sea level (a.s.l.)] has occurred as early as during the latest Pleistocene and Early Holocene (Brantingham et al, 2013; Rademaker et al, 2014; Shnaider S. et al, 2018; Zhang et al, 2018)
The uppermost homogenous 63.0 cm of the composite profile were chronologically constrained by gamma spectrometric analysis of 210Pb and 137Cs performed at the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany, on 0.5 cm thick sediment slices of the parallel gravity core SC17_7. 210Pb activity concentrations were used for age model constructions based on a constant initial concentration (CIC) model
The present study demonstrates the usefulness of fecal biomarker analyses as a valuable tool to reconstruct temporal anthropogenic presence in an area as an alternative approach in archeological studies
Summary
There is growing evidence that human occupation of high-altitude sites [>3,500 m above sea level (a.s.l.)] has occurred as early as during the latest Pleistocene and Early Holocene (Brantingham et al, 2013; Rademaker et al, 2014; Shnaider S. et al, 2018; Zhang et al, 2018). Ossendorf et al (2019) provided evidence of repeated human occupation of Fincha Habera (∼3,500 m a.s.l.), located in Africa’s largest alpine landscape, dating back to 47,000–31,000 years ago, which makes it the earliest known high-altitude residential site. These findings indicate that prehistoric human populations were able to adapt to climatic and environmental extremes at high altitudes, such as low temperatures, high solar radiation and low primary productivity, as well as to related physiological challenges, including hypoxia and cold stress (Rademaker et al, 2014; Meyer et al, 2017). Demographic pressure on resources potentially opened previously uninhabitable highaltitude regions, such as the mountain regions of Central Asia, for settlement and migration
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
