13–17 Feb 2023
Faculty of Geoscience and Geography
Europe/Zurich timezone

Holocene fire history in the mid-Kama region (Urals, Russia)

14 Feb 2023, 14:15
3h 45m
MN09 (Faculty of Geoscience and Geography)

MN09

Faculty of Geoscience and Geography

Göttingen, Germany
Poster (A0) Fire-vegetation interactions (Poster) Fire-vegetation interactions (Poster)

Speaker

Ms Vlada Batalova (Georg-August-University Göttingen)

Description

Fire chronicles and the influence of climatic and anthropogenic factors on regional fire dynamics in the context of global climate change represent a great research interest in recent years. In our DFG supported project “Plant and land use of Early Iron Age societies in the boreal zone of the mid-Kama region and its environmental impact” we focus on the history of economic development in the Urals with special attention to the fire record. Here we present a high-temporal resolution Holocene fire history in the mid-Kama region based on micro- and macrocharcoal analysis, loss-on-ignition, and radiocarbon dating of the Shabunichi-I peat core, covered the last 9200 years. Obtained results demonstrate three high-fire frequency stages corresponding to the Stone Age (9200-7400 cal yr BP), Iron Age (2300-1600 cal yr BP), and the Middle Ages. The high intensity of fires in the first half of the Holocene is probably caused by climatic reasons – the lack of archaeological data from the Stone Age of the mid-Kama region limits us in establishing the anthropogenic origin of local fires. The most intense fire events in the region are linked to the Iron Age period specifically to agricultural activities of the Glyadenovo culture, compactly inhabiting the mid-Kama valley. Archaeological finds testify the beginning of the exploration of the Kama floodplain terraces corresponding to the burning of terrace forests. At the beginning of the Middle Ages, Glyadenovo culture transformed into Nevolino and Lomovatovo cultures, and the mid-Kama was abandoned – anthropogenic pressure on regional ecosystems decreased, as evidenced by the declining intensity of fire events.

Primary authors

Ms Vlada Batalova (Georg-August-University Göttingen) Dr Lyudmila Shumilovskikh (Georg-August-University Göttingen)

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