Habitation Layers and Pedogenic Processes in Forest-Steppe Riverine Valleys West of the Don: The Case of Ilyinka

Abstract

A Mesolithic site with an intrusive early medieval burial at Ilyinka in the Don basin is described. The Mesolithic assemblage suggests a revision of the Donets culture, whereas the burial reveals contacts between the nomadic peoples, pointing to affi nities with Alans rather than Bulgars. Based on soil analysis, environment and climate are reconstructed with reference to chronology and cultural attribution. The soil is gray sabulous pseudofi brous unsaturated humus with traces of modern and possibly ancient anthropogenic disruption. A succession of various pedogenic regimes caused by climatic and biotic changes is revealed. The early stage is marked by predominantly steppe conditions alternating with arboreal phases, whereas at the late stage the only landscape was steppe. An interchange of cultures occurred mainly during the steppe phases. The total duration of steppe regimes was at least 6 thousand years (alternating pedogenic phases make a more accurate estimate impossible). Despite the instability of the pedological record on the sandy subatratum, automorphous soils can be helpful for environmental and cultural reconstructions.