Reconstruction of paleoenvironmental conditions of ancient people habitation in the Togootyn Gol River valley (Eastern Mongolia)

Bazarova, V. B.; Tsydenova, Natalia; Lyaschevskaya, Marina S.; Khenzykhenova, Fedora; Tumen, Dashtseveg; Myagmar, Erdene

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2018.10.017

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…The humic fraction was dated to 4013–3889 cal BP (71.1%) suggesting that these ponds were active until the end of the Middle Holocene humid phase, and then transformed to patches of moist humic soils before drying completely. The Late Holocene was marked by a return to arid conditions after ~4300–4000 BP and continuing into the present [ 33 , 48 , 52 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Zaraa Uul: An archaeological record of Pleistocene-Holocene palaeoecology in the Gobi Desert

et al. 2021

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Environmentally-based archaeological research at Zaraa Uul, including zooarchaeology, phytolith analysis, and radiocarbon dating, is the first of its kind in Mongolia and presents critical new insight on the relationship between periods of occupational intensity and climatic amelioration from the earliest anatomically modern humans to the adoption of pastoralism. The palaeoenvironmental and faunal record of Zaraa Uul show that Early-Middle Holocene hydrology and species distributions were distinct from all other periods of human occupation. Holocene hunter-gatherers inhabited an ecosystem characterized by extensive marshes, riparian shrub and arboreal vegetation along the hill slopes and drainages. The exploitation of species associated with riparian and wetland settings supports the hypothesis of, but suggests an earlier timing for, oasis-based logistical foraging during the Early-Middle Holocene of arid Northeast Asia. The onset of wetter conditions at 8500 cal BP agrees with other regional studies, but multiple lines of evidence present the first integrated field- and laboratory-based record of human-environment relationships in arid East Asia during the Holocene Climatic Optimum. We compare it to Late Pleistocene climatic amelioration, and highlight specific responses of the hydrological, vegetative and faunal communities to climate change in arid Northeast Asia.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Zaraa Uul: An archaeological record of Pleistocene-Holocene palaeoecology in the Gobi Desert

et al. 2021

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“…Much of the previous paleoclimatic research in the Mongolian Gobi Desert is summarized in several recent articles (Bazarova et al, 2019; Felauer et al, 2012; Holguín and Sternberg, 2018; Klinge and Sauer, 2019; Lehmkuhl et al, 2018; Li et al, 2018; Yu et al, 2019). There are also important parallels from northern China and Inner Mongolia (Zhang et al, 2011).…”

Section: Environmental Archeological Studies At Zaraa Uulmentioning

confidence: 99%

Holocene desertification, traditional ecological knowledge, and human resilience in the eastern Gobi Desert, Mongolia

et al. 2022

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Dryland regions are particularly challenging for human survival over the course of deep time. This is true for institutionally complex communities as well as small-scale societies that have existed in semi-arid regions throughout the Holocene. This paper examines some of the successful strategies employed by small-scale mobile communities which enhanced their ability to thrive in drylands over the course of thousands of years. Small-scale societies living in drylands must rely on the transmission of Traditional Ecological Knowledge across generations. Some of this knowledge relates to the availability and use of wetlands and other more ephemeral water sources, the exploitation of a diverse range of resources, and the potential for natural storage of food resources as a buffer against regularly occurring drought years in these regions. We compare this understanding with our environmental archeological findings at the Mid-Holocene site of Zaraa Uul in the eastern Gobi Desert of Mongolia. At the site of Zaraa Uul, we show how hunter-gatherer groups returned to a campsite near the edge of a wetland environment over the course of at least two phases during the Mid-Holocene. Here they took advantage of a greater diversity of animal species and plants, including small-grained-grasses and sedges, which could enhance their caloric intake and increase the potential for storable commodities which could be collected as needed from their natural habitat.

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“…In the relationship between humans and the pedosphere, the importance of soil is to meet the ever-increasing demand for food and water, energy, and natural resources [1]. Therefore, ancient people tried to settle in areas with fertile soil [2] or used organic waste as fertilizer in conditions of limited fertility [3]. As early as 2000 years ago in Quaternary 2021, 4, 32 2 of 14 China, people studied soils' classification, distribution, and agricultural use [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human-Altered Soils at an Archeological Site of the Bronze Age: The Tyater-Araslanovo-II Settlement, Southern Cis-Ural Region, Russia

et al. 2021

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This paper presents the results of studying the soils at the archeological site of the Tyater-Araslanovo-II settlement located in the Republic of Bashkortostan, eastern European Russia. The settlement functioned in the 15th–12th centuries BCE (the Late Bronze Age). We compared the soil properties at four sites in the study area: archeological (1), buried (2), affected by long pyrogenic exposure (3), and background site (4). In soil samples, the total carbon content, the fractional composition of humus and organic matter characteristics, alkaline hydrolyzable nitrogen, total phosphorus, mobile phosphorus, potassium, absorbed calcium and magnesium, pH, particle size distribution, basal soil respiration, and optical density were estimated. The study results showed the anthropogenic impact on the archeological site’s soils. The newly formed AU horizon at the archeological site (1), affected by the cattle summer camp, was richer in soil nutrients and agrochemical properties, namely, the content of exchangeable and gross forms of phosphorus, alkaline hydrolyzable nitrogen, and exchange cations of the soil absorbing complex compared to the reference soil (4). For the pyrogenic layer (AU[hh]pyr) from the ancient furnace (fireplace) (3), the mobile and total forms of phosphorus were several times higher than those in the reference soil (4) but inferior regarding other agrochemical parameters. Thus, the activities of ancient people (especially cattle breeding) greatly influenced the properties of the soil.

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Reconstruction of paleoenvironmental conditions of ancient people habitation in the Togootyn Gol River valley (Eastern Mongolia)

Cited by 8 publications

References 23 publications

Zaraa Uul: An archaeological record of Pleistocene-Holocene palaeoecology in the Gobi Desert

Zaraa Uul: An archaeological record of Pleistocene-Holocene palaeoecology in the Gobi Desert

Holocene desertification, traditional ecological knowledge, and human resilience in the eastern Gobi Desert, Mongolia

Human-Altered Soils at an Archeological Site of the Bronze Age: The Tyater-Araslanovo-II Settlement, Southern Cis-Ural Region, Russia

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