Development of ancient cultures and paleoenvironment during the Eneolithic Period and the Early Bronze Age in the Southern Cis-Urals steppe (Russia)

Abstract

Multidisciplinary research undertaken on archeological sites in the Southern Cis-Urals steppe resulted in the identification of six distinct ‘chronosections’, i.e., chronological intervals within the period of the 5th–3rd millennium BC. Paleoenvironmental reconstruction showed that the first half of this period was predominately arid, whereas the second half was humid. The arid phase, which included chronosections I, II (the Samara culture of the Middle and Late Eneolithic Period) and III (the early stage of the Pit-Grave culture of the Early Bronze Age), was characterized by a sharply continental paleoclimate that was drier than the modern climate within the study area. During the arid phase, there were profound changes in the occupations of the indigenous ancient people, e.g. cattle farming of the Samara culture changed to nomadic herding of cattle at the early stage of the Pit-Grave culture, which was associated with the construction of burial mounds. The humid phase (chronosections IV, V and VI corresponding to advanced and late stages of the Pit-Grave culture of the Early Bronze Age) was wetter and less continental than the modern climate within the study area.