Reconstructions of paleofires in the Upper Don Basin in the Late Holocene

Abstract

Reconstruction of the fire frequency in the area of the Kulikovo Battlefield Museum Reserve (Upper Don Basin, Central Russian Upland) over the last 4000 years was carried out on the basis of macrocharcoal analysis (study of macroscopic charcoal particles with a linear size greater than 100 μm) of the peat core from the Podkosmovsky bog, which received the status of a specially protected natural area in 2013. The results of macroscopic charcoal analysis were compared with published quantitative reconstructions of forest cover and vegetation dynamics in the region, palynological data and archaeological material. The results of the study showed low fire activity in the area of the Kulikovo Battlefield between 4000 and 1500 cal (calibrated) years BP. According to the results of pollen analysis, the study area belonged to the forest-steppe vegetation zone during this period. The mosaic of plant cover included patches of deciduous pine forests, floodplain alder forests and grassland steppes on dry slopes. The forest cover of the area was 30–40% and reached 45% at about 2700 cal years BP, when the climate cooled and humidity increased. From 1500 cal years BP, the rate of charcoal accumulation in the peat deposit of the Podkosmosky bog gradually increased. The highest frequency of forest fires and the highest charcoal accumulation rates in peat were found for the period 900–300 cal years BP. The relationship between the periods of increased charcoal influx and climatic changes in the Late Holocene has not been established, but there is a clear correspondence between the interval of increased charcoal accumulation in peat and the stages of human activity in the region, confirmed by numerous archaeological finds. The decrease in forest cover in the study area to 15–20% over the same period and the abundance of anthropogenic pollen indicators in the pollen assemblages indicate an increase in human impact on the vegetation.