Dynamics of the coastal North Black Sea area in Late Pleistocene and Holocene and early human dispersal

Abstract

Based on detailed surveys, the reconstructions of coastal and marine environments of the North-Western Black Sea shelf were carried out for the time spans of ca 25, 18, 12, 10–7, and 7–4 ka BP. During the great part of Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene the Black Sea remained a land-locked basin of the Caspian type, which became colonised by early modern humans starting from ca 40 ka. The subsequent evolution of coastal landscapes was generally conditioned by the gradual rise of sea-level and increasing temperature and precipitation, resulting in the formation of coastal wetland landscapes, which became the main source of Late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic subsistence. The initial indications of farming activities are coeval with the Kalamitian stage, being conditioned by the increased temperature and precipitation combined with the formation of fertile soils under Altithermal conditions. The data fail to indicate a catastrophic breakthrough of Mediterranean water that could have had any effect on the subsistence or migrations of early farming communities.