Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –
Source: Novosibirsk State University – Novosibirsk State University –
Scientists from NSU together with colleagues from Samara State Social and Pedagogical University and the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences studied artifacts from Mesolithic sites in the Volga region using radiocarbon and isotope analysis methods. Human and animal bone fragments, tools and even soil were studied at the NSU-NSC Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Shared Use Center. These studies are intended to shed light on the history of the development of the forest-steppe by ancient human populations and to identify the connection between fluctuations in human activity and major climatic events. The result of this work was the creation of an absolute chronology of Mesolithic complexes in the forest-steppe Volga region.
— The work was interesting for us for several reasons. First of all, the wide range of dating centers that analyzed the presented samples and the combination of results from two different radiocarbon dating methods: scintillation and accelerator mass spectrometry. It is impossible not to note the diversity of objects for dating and the results of the accompanying analysis of stable isotopes (isotopes C-13 and N-15) in the entire set of samples. We described 28 samples dated in six centers, of which 6 samples were analyzed by the scintillation method (one in Moscow, five in St. Petersburg), and 22 samples by the accelerator mass spectrometry method. Scientists abroad worked with six samples (1 in Belgium, 2 in Finland, 3 in the USA), in Russia — with 22, of which 16 were dated here, at the NSU-NSC UMS Collective Use Center.
All the results fit into a single theory of the development of forest-steppe by ancient human populations, which suggests significant fluctuations in human activity associated with major climatic events of the Holocene, namely, with pronounced cooling phases against the background of general climate warming. These short periods are called the “preboreal oscillation”, which occurred 11.3-11.15 thousand years ago, the “event of 10.2 thousand years ago”, the “event of 8.2 thousand years ago”, etc. For example, it is known that in the Upper Volga basin in the European territory of Russia during the cooling period corresponding to the “event of 8.2 thousand years ago”, the average annual temperature dropped by 2-3 °C, and on average in Europe – by 1 °C. The probability distribution obtained on the basis of the dates presented in the work demonstrates approximately the same fluctuations as the average annual temperature, said Ekaterina Parkhomchuk, Director of the UMS NSU-NNC Collective Use Center and Candidate of Chemical Sciences.
The set of objects studied included human bone fragments and bone items (parts of a knife, a chisel, a bow overlay). There were also teeth of bears and elks, antlers of aurochs and elks, bones of beavers, horses and even soil. Ekaterina Parkhomchuk explained that the diversity of materials and full isotope analysis ensure the reliability of dating, since they allow taking into account various interfering factors, such as the characteristics of the human and animal diet or the so-called reservoir effect. It occurs, for example, if a person eats fish. As a result, the isotopic composition of his bone collagen (isotopic shifts in C-13 and N-15) can differ significantly from the indicators of those people and animals that live and eat mainly on land. Obviously, the same phenomenon will be observed for C-14 – people and animals with a marine diet will show an older radiocarbon age compared to land creatures that lived at the same time. Therefore, it is so important to conduct the most complete studies of a wide variety of archaeological objects. Moreover, determining not only the radiocarbon age, but also the isotopic and chemical composition of the material.
— In addition to interesting technical aspects, this work is also important for us because it was carried out jointly with specialists from the European part of the country. Our center conducted most of the research on radiocarbon and isotope analysis and provided a tenfold increase in the database on the chronology of the Mesolithic forest-steppe Volga region. It is encouraging that the work continues, there are still many historical discoveries ahead! — Ekaterina Parkhomchuk summed up.
Associate Professor of the Department of Russian History and Archaeology of the Samara State Social and Pedagogical University, Candidate of Historical Sciences Konstantin Andreev noted that within the framework of this study, an intermediate result of many years of work on establishing the absolute age of the existence of Mesolithic complexes of the forest-steppe Volga region was summed up, which found support in the projects of the Russian Science Foundation (No. 19-78-10001 and No. 23-78-10088).
— Up until the beginning of the 21st century, we did not have a single absolute date for these materials, and we had a very general understanding of the time of existence of this or that cultural tradition in the region. Thanks to the efforts of the last five years, about 30 age estimates have been obtained for many artifacts, which made it possible to date the region’s reference sites. Moreover, more than half of them were made at the NSU-NNC Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Collective Use Center. The earliest estimates of about 30 definitions of the appearance of new people in the forest-steppe Volga region include the period of the third quarter of the 9th millennium BC. At this time, population groups first from the Southern Urals, and then from the Southern Trans-Urals penetrated into the forest-steppe Volga region, with which contact was subsequently maintained until the end of the Mesolithic era in the first half of the 7th millennium BC. These population groups, in all likelihood, practiced hunting large ungulates – elk and horses. Judging by the short duration of their stay at the sites, they made frequent transitions following the beast. The basis of their stone industry was the tradition of obtaining plates and making a few tools from them (scrapers, piercers, etc.). Bone was also used, but it is rarely preserved in the cultural layer, – said Konstantin Andreev.
According to the obtained dates, scientists were able to establish that from about the middle of the 8th millennium BC, individual groups from more northern (forested) territories penetrated the forest-steppe Volga region, which led to the spread of chopping tools and a few arrowheads. Thus, the thesis about active contacts of different cultural groups in the forest-steppe is confirmed, and thanks to the conducted determination of the absolute time of existence of the region’s support complexes, it became possible to tie these contacts to a chronological scale.
In the future, Samara scientists plan to continue their collaboration with the NSU-NNC Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Collective Use Center, since the data obtained as a result of their joint work allowed them to significantly refine their understanding not only of the Mesolithic era, but also of later periods and cultures of the Middle Volga region.
Associate Professor of the Institute of Intelligent Robotics of NSU Petr Menshanov explained that modern archaeological research does not end with simply determining radiocarbon dates for found artifacts – scientists must reconstruct the course of events that took place in the distant past. To do this, they actively use machine learning and artificial intelligence methods that build chronological models based on dates obtained, among other things, by the Novosibirsk Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry.
— Using a chronological model created using machine learning methods for radiocarbon dates obtained from the ancient Volga region, we determined periods of high and low activity for the Stone Age people who inhabited this territory. And then we compared the time boundaries of the activity of the people of the ancient Volga region with global data on climate changes that occurred on Earth after the end of the last ice age. It turned out that the ancient people who inhabited the Volga region in the Stone Age did not differ much in behavior from modern people. If the living conditions of our ancestors were satisfactory and stable, then they stayed in one place for a long time, fished, hunted, raised children. And with sharp climate changes, the ancient inhabitants of the forest-steppe Volga region preferred to change their “apartment” and move to more comfortable conditions, where there was still prey and water.
During the most difficult periods, ancient people actively invented and mastered the innovations of their time, which led to a change of eras. In our case, after the Global Cooling Event 8.2k, people of the ancient Volga region were forced to think about the future, – said Petr Menshanov.
Konstantin Andreev explained that the global cooling event of 8.2k had the most significant impact on the Mesolithic communities of the forest-steppe Volga region and led to the extinction of their cultural tradition. The Mesolithic people were replaced by new migrants, who, in addition to specific stone processing skills, also brought to the region one of the innovations of the next archaeological era (Neolithic) – ceramics.
Scientists are confident that further research will allow them to more accurately establish the course of events that influenced the life and everyday life of the ancient people of the Volga region, the Urals and Siberia in the Stone and Bronze Ages.
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