Volga-Ural Interfluve Research Articles

Quantitative characteristics of soil mesofauna in the semidesert solonetzic complex of the north Caspian region

The results of long-term quantitative assessments of the invertebrate populations inhabiting the soils of a clayey semidesert are analyzed. The dominant species in the different soils of a solonetzic soil complex are compared. The distribution patterns of the dominant groups of invertebrates in relation to the soil and vegetation complexity dictated by the clearly expressed microrelief are discussed. The changes in the populations of the soil invertebrates are considered against the background of changes in the precipitation during the growing season in different years. It is shown that the population density of the soil invertebrates varies within broad limits in all the soils of the complex. At the same time, it remains considerably lower in the solonchakous solonetzes of the microhighs in comparison with that in the soils of the slopes and microlows. The most contrasting differences in the species composition and the numbers of soil invertebrates are observed for the solonetzes of the microhighs and the meadow-chestnut soils of the microlows. This work was performed at the Dzhanybek Research Station of the Institute of Forestry of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the Volga-Ural interfluve (30 km to the north of Lake El’ton).

NEW DATA ON RADIOCARBON CHRONOLOGY OF NEOLITHIC CERAMICS FROM THE VOLGA-KAMA REGION

The present article outlays a chronological sequence based on radiocarbon dating using ceramics from Neolithic sites in the Volga-Kama region. Sites in the North Caspian region are considered the most ancient being dated to the first half of the 6th millennium BC. The Neolithic culture of the southern forest-steppe zone of the Volga-Ural interfluve was formed at approximately the same time. Neolithic sites in the Lower Volga region are considered slightly later dating to the second half of the 6th millennium BC. Contacts between the steppe and forest-steppe cultures of the Middle Volga led to the emergence of the pricked decorative style in ceramics in the early 5th millennium BC. This tradition survived until the early 4th millennium BC. In the mid 5th millennium BC, the comb-cogged stamp decorative element emerged in the forest-steppe zone of the eastern Volga and in the forest zone of the Volga-Kama region. In southern areas, this tradition continued until the mid 4th millennium BC, and in northern areas, until the late 4th millennium BC.