The Upper Palaeolithic site Doroshivtsi III: A new chronostratigraphic and environmental record of the Late Pleniglacial in the regional context of the Middle Dniester-Prut loess domain (Western Ukraine)

Abstract

A multidisciplinary study of the Upper Palaeolithic site Doroshivtsi III (Western Ukraine) allows the establishment of a high-resolution chronostratigraphic and environmental record of short climatic oscillations during the Late Pleniglacial (from ca. 23 ka uncal BP to the Late Glacial). Chronostratigraphic records, radiocarbon dating, palynology and anthracology were used in parallel with archaeological studies. Palaeoenvironmental interpretations based on pedostratigraphy and pollen data show a remarkable concordance. The Doroshivtsi III sequence provides a succession of 12 short-time interstadial events. In the lower part of the sequence, they are separated by very cold and wet stadials, represented by tundra gleys. In the middle part of the sequence, interstadial events are separated by episodes of loess accumulation under cold and dry climate, whereas the upper part of the sequence almost completely consists of loesses. The sum of pollen of arcto-alpine and arcto-boreal plants was the largest during the periods of tundra gley formation, whereas few pollen grains of broad-leaved taxa occurred during formation of some soil horizons. The latter allows the preliminary suggestion that during the Late Pleniglacial some temperate trees persisted to the south from the Middle Dniester Valley. The Doroshivtsi III sequence is well correlated with the other East Carpathian records (Molodova, Mitoc and Cosautsi), and allows the establishment of a very complete record of climatic oscillations in this area from 33 ka BP to the beginning of the Holocene. It also provides a link for the correlation with the interstadial events 8 to 1 of the Greenland Ice Sequence.