Dynamics of ecosystems and land use in the Dnieper left-bank forest-steppe for the last two thousand years: Kurilovka 2 case study

Abstract

The paper presents the first results of comprehensive studies of the multi-layer settlement Kurilovka 2 (Kursk region, Russia). It is located on a remnant of a low terrace above the floodplain of the Sudzha River (tributary of the Psel River – tributary of the Dnieper). The site contains archaeological materials of two main periods: proto- and early Slavonic (2nd – 8th centuries) and the Modern Period (end of the 17th – 20th century). The mail attention is paid to the results of archaeological, pedological, palynological, phytolith, anthracological study of the soil profile/archaeological pit 10/2016, located within the boundaries of the habitation zone. The data obtained allow us to reconstruct the history of the site development and dynamics of the site-encasing ecosystems over the past two thousand years. The area was initially forested and cleared for shifting agriculture, probably by the proto- and early Slavonic population. At the end of the 1st millennium AD the settlement was abandoned. The site was reforested and cleared again in the Modern Period. Now the arable land is not farmed, the site is covered with the herbaceous vegetation.