The mammalian fauna of Kulikovo Pole region (Upper Don River Basin) during the end of Pleistocene – Holocene

Abstract

This paper includes information on mammalian faunas from eight localities investigated in the Kulikovo Pole region – the place at the confluence of the Nepryadva and Don River where the famous battle between Tartars and Russians occurred in 1380. The oldest faunal assemblages were recovered from the natural outcrops in the upper floodplains of these streams where only steppe and tundra species from the periglacial interval were encountered. The distribution of Middle Holocene forest-steppe landscapes in the Upper Don basin are correlated with mammalian species that indicate major environmental changes. Mammals identified at several medieval sites reflect steppe, forest and hydrogenous species, and remains of domesticated species (cattle, horse, pig, sheep, goat and dog) reveal the impact of human activities during this time. Thus, the study of mammalian faunas associated with the last ∼14 thousand years BP demonstrates significant environmental and climatic changes from the cold periglacial tundra-steppe conditions at the end of the last glaciation to the establishment of forest-steppe habitats during the Middle and the Late Holocene.