The first radiocarbon and stable isotope data for megafauna remains in Kaliningrad Province, Russia

Abstract

The first 14C dates for representatives of the Late Pleistocene – Early Holocene megafauna are reported from sites in Kaliningrad Province, Russia. The dates for woolly mammoth and cave lion are older than ca. 45 000 bp, and could have corresponded to the Middle Weichselian interglacial (Marine Isotope Stage 3). The age of reindeer is ca. 10 000 bp, and of aurochs ca. 7000 bp. This shows that megafauna existed in this part of the Eastern Baltic region prior to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). After the LGM, Kaliningrad Province was recolonized by reindeer.