Neolithic and Aeneolithic Environments in the Central Primor'ye Region (the Bol'shaya Ussurka Valley), the Russian Far East

Abstract

Holocene climates and environmental changes in the Russian Primor'ye are still insufficiently documented in comparison with the more southerly Far East Asian areas. Systematic field investigations performed during the last years in the central Primor'ye Region adjacent to Manchuria have produced a new and most fascinating picture on the local cultural development between 9th and 3rd Mill. BP. Multi-proxy palaeoecology records from the key stratified archaeological sites in the Bol'shaya Ussurka (Iman) River basin display marked environmental shifts witnessed by the contextual geological and pollen evidence from the occupations loci believed to reflect the early prehistoric formation in these woodland territories during the early and mid-Holocene. The reconstructed vegetation history shows a good correlation of the Neolithic appearance in the Iman Basin with the mapped trend of a regional climate amelioration characterized by increased temperature and humidity rates, culminating in the Holocene Climatic Optimum (9–6 ka BP), and the subsequent cultural diversification and progress during the late Neolithic and Aeneolithic (Palaeo-Metal) periods. Changes in the regional vegetation cover extrapolated from pollen sequences, 14C-dated to ca. 4500–3500 cal. BP, are likely linked to anthropogenic pressure to the pristine environment with the site-vicinity taiga clearance for new pastures by people of the Almazinka Culture, marking the climax of the local Neolithic development. A uniform adaptation to local natural settings with mixed basic (hunting–gathering and extensive pastoral) economies persisted throughout millennia until historical times. Most of the cultural horizons are sealed in abiotically distorted palaeosols, indicating climate instability and marked environmental shifts in the north-central Primor'ye area during the Holocene.