|Generate QR code
Open Access
Subscription Access
Methodological Issues in Pollen Analysis of Pleistocene Deposits in Denisova Cave
https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2024.52.3.017-029
Abstract
Denisova Cave, in the northwestern Altai, is a key Paleolithic complex in North Asia. Pleistocene deposits in the cave contain lithic industries and human fossils documenting the evolution of the cultural traditions of Denisovans in the second half of the Middle and in the Upper Pleistocene. This study addresses methodological issues in paleogeographic interpretation of pollen records relating to Quaternary deposits of cave sites. We present the results of the analysis of recent and subrecent spectra of cave sediments and soil samples taken at sites of characteristic plant communities in natural zones of the Anui River valley near Denisova Cave. Findin gs from taphonomic study of pollen microremains from loose sediments in the East Chamber of the cave make it possible to obtain a correct climato-stratigraphic and climato-phytocenotic interpretation of pollen spectra from Pleistocene deposits in Denisova Cave.
Keywords
Supporting agencies: This study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, Grant No. 24-18-00069, https://rscf.ru/project/24-18-00069. Pollen studies carried out by N.S. Bolikhovskaya are part of the research federal themes of the Faculty of Geography of the Lomonosov Moscow State University “Paleogeographic Reconstructions of Natural Geosystems and Forecasting of Their Future Changes” (121051100135-0) and “Evolution of the Natural Environment in the Cenozoic, Relief Dynamics, Geomorphologic Hazards, and Risks of Nature Management” (121040100323-5).The authors express their gratitude to N.A. Rudaya and E.G. Lapteva for the participation in determination of the botanical composition of herbaceous vegetation at the sites for collecting subrecent samples.
About the Authors
N. S. Bolikhovskaya
Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
N.S. Bolikhovskaya - Leading Researcher
Vorobyevy Gory, Moscow, 119992
M. V. Shunkov
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Shunkov M.V. - Chief Researcher, Department Head
pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090
References
1. Atlas Altaiskogo kraya. 1991 Moscow: Komitet geodezii i kartografi i SSSR.
2. Bolikhovskaya N.S. 1995 Evolyutsiya lessovo-pochvennoy formatsii Severnoy Yevrazii. Moscow: Izd. Mosk. Gos. Univ.
3. Bolikhovskaya N.S., Derevianko A.P., Shunkov M.V., Markin S.V., Sobolev V.M. 2011 Paleogeografi cheskiye osobennosti razvitiya pleistotsenovoy rastitelnosti i klimata Altaya i Vostochnogo Predkavkazya v epokhi obitaniya drevnego cheloveka. In Problemy paleogeografi i i stratigrafi i pleistotsena, iss. 3. Moscow: Geogr. fak. Mosk. Gos. Univ., pp. 373–418.
4. Bolikhovskaya N.S., Kozlikin M.B., Shunkov M.V., Ulyanov V.A., Faustov S.S. 2017 Noviye danniye v palinologii unikalnogo pamyatnika paleolita Denisova peshchera na severo-zapade Altaya. Bulleten Moskovskogo obshchestva ispytatelei prirody. Otd. biol., vol. 122 (4): 46–60.
5. Bolikhovskaya N.S., Ogureeva G.N., Rudaya N.A. 2005 Osobennosti subfossilnykh palinospektrov stepnykh i lesostepnykh fi totsenozov Altaya. In Palinologiya: Teoriya i praktika. Moscow: Izd. Paleontol. Inst. RAN, pp. 32–33.
6. Bolikhovskaya N.S., Shunkov M.V. 2014 Pleistocene environments of the northwestern Altai: Vegetation and climate. Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia, No. 2: 2–17.
7. Bolikhovskaya N.S., Shunkov M.V. 2020 Prostranstvenno-vremenniye osobennosti razvitiya rastitelnosti i klimata gornykh rayonov yuga Severnoy Yevrazii v neopleistotsene. In Aktualniye problemy paleogeografii pleistotsena i golotsena. Moscow: Geogr. fak. Mosk. Gos. Univ., pp. 88–151.
8. Burney D.A., Burney L.P. 1993 Modern pollen deposition in cave sites: Experimental results from New York State. New Phytologist, vol. 124: 523–535.
9. Carrión J.S., Munuera M., Navarro C., Burjachs F., Dupré M., Walker M.J. 1999 The palaeoecological potential of pollen records in caves: The case of Mediterranean Spain. Quaternary Science Review, vol. 18 (8): 1061–1073.
10. Carrión J.S., Ochando J., Fernández S., Blasco R., Rosel J., Munuera M., Amorós G., Martín-Lerma I., Finlayson S., Giles F., Jennings R., Finlayson G., Giles-Pacheco F., Rodríguez-Vidal J., Finlayson C. 2018 Last Neanderthals in the warmest refugium of Europe: Palynological data from Vanguard Cave. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, vol. 259: 63–80.
11. Coles C.M., Gilbertson D.D. 1994 The airfall-pollen budget of archaeologically important caves: Creswell Crags, England. Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. 21: 735–755.
12. De Porras M.E., Mancini M.V., Prieto A.R. 2011 Modern pollen analysis in caves at the Patagonian steppe, Argentina. Reviews of Palaeobotany and Palynology, vol. 166 (3): 335–343.
13. Derevianko A.P., Bolikhovskaya N.S., Markin S.V., Sobolev V.M. 2000 Paleogeografiya finala pleistotsena srednegornoy zony Severo-Zapadnogo Altaya. In Problemy rekonstruktsii klimata i prirodnoy sredy golotsena i pleistotsena Sibiri, iss. 2. Novosibirsk: Izd. IAET SO RAN, pp. 154–161.
14. Derevianko A.P., Malaeva E.M., Shunkov M.V. 2000 Razvitiye rastitelnosti nizkogornogo poyasa Altaya v pleistotsene. In Problemy rekonstruktsii klimata i prirodnoy sredy golotsena i pleistotsena Sibiri, iss. 2. Novosibirsk: Izd. IAET SO RAN, pp. 162–174.
15. Derevianko A.P., Markin S.V., Kolobova K.A., Chabai V.P., Rudaya N.A., Viola B., Buzhilova A.P., Mednikova M.B., Vasiliev S.K., Zykin V.S., Zykina V.S., Zazhigin V.S., Volvakh A.O., Roberts R.G., Jacob Z., Bo Li. 2018 Mezhdistsiplinarniye issledovaniya Chagyrskoy peshchery – stoyanki srednego paleolita Altaya. Novosibirsk: Izd. IAET SO RAN.
16. Derevianko A.P., Shunkov M.V., Agadjanian A.K., Baryshnikov G.F., Malaeva E.M., Ulyanov V.A., Kulik N.A., Postnov A.V., Anoikin A.A. 2003 Prirodnaya sreda i chelovek v paleolite Gornogo Altaya. Novosibirsk: Izd. IAET SO RAN.
17. Fiacconi M., Hunt C.O. 2015 Pollen taphonomy at Shanidar Cave (Kurdish Iraq): An initial evaluation. Reviews of Palaeobotany and Palynology, vol. 223: 87–93.
18. Gerasimenko N. 2004 Vegetational history of Buran-Kaya III. In The Middle Paleolithic and Early Upper Paleolithic of Eastern Crimea. Liège: Liège Univ., pp. 19–34. (Etudes et Recherches Archéologiques de l’Université de Liège; vol. 104).
19. Gerasimenko N.P. 2005 Paleoekologiya srednego i pozdnego paleolita na arkheologicheskikh pamyatnikakh Gornogo Kryma. In Problemy paleontologii i arkheologii yuga Rossii i sopredelnykh territoriy. Rostov-on-Don: YuNC RAN, pp. 14–17.
20. Gerasimenko N. 2007 Environmental changes in the Crimean Mountains during the Last Interglacial – Middle Pleniglacial as recorded by pollen and pedology. Quaternary International, vol. 164: 207–220.
21. Gerasimenko N., Ridush B., Avdeenko Yu. 2016 The Late Pleistocene vegetation history and ecosystem variability in the karst areas of Ukraine based on palaeontological study of cave deposits. In Georeview. Cluj-Napoka: Stefan cel Mare Univ. Press, pp. 25–27. (Past Global Changes: Central and Eastern Europe Paleoscience Symposium: From Local to Global).
22. Gerasimenko N., Ridush B., Avdeyenko Yu. 2019 Late Pleistocene and Holocene environmental changes recorded in deposits of the Bukovynka Cave (the EastCarpathian foreland, Ukraine). Quaternary International, vol. 504: 96–107.
23. Gerasimenko N., Ridush B., Korzun Yu., Popelyushko A. 2014 Environmental changes in the Crimean Mountains during the last 45,000 years (paleontology and lithology from the Emine-Bair-Khosar cave). In Stratigraphy and Sedimentology of Oil-Gas Basins, No. 1. Baku: Nafta-Press, pp. 49–52.
24. Gladilin V.N., Pashkevich G.A. 1977 Paleogeografi ya srednego i pozdnego vyurma Zakarpatya po dannym issledovaniy v peshchere Molochniy kamen. In Paleoekologiya drevnego cheloveka. Moscow: Nauka, pp. 106–112.
25. Gubonina Z.P. 1985 Usloviya obitaniya paleoliticheskogo cheloveka v predgoryakh Kryma. In Palinologiya chetvertichnogo perioda. Moscow: Nauka, pp. 95–103.
26. Klopotovskaya N.B. 1985 Interpretatsiya rezultatov sporovo-pyltsevogo analiza otlozheniy peshchery Apiancha v Abkhazii. In Palinologiya chetvertichnogo perioda. Moscow: Nauka, pp. 657–660.
27. Kolobova K., Roberts R., Chabai V., Jacob Z., Krajcarz M., Shalagina A., Krivoshapkin A., Li B., Uthmeier T., Markin S., Morley M., O’Gorman K., Rudaya N., Talamo S., Viola B., Derevianko A. 2020 Archaeological evidence for two separate dispersals of Neanderthals into southern Siberia. PNAS, vol. 117: 2879–2885.
28. Kuminova A.V. 1960 Rastitelniy pokrov Altaya. Novosibirsk: Izd. SO AN SSSR.
29. Levkovskaya G.M. 1980 Palinologicheskaya kharakteristika otlozheniy v peshcherakh Kudaro I Kudaro III. In Kudarskiye peshcherniye paleoliticheskiye stoyanki v Yugo-Osetii. Moscow: Nauka, pp. 128–151.
30. Levkovskaya G.M. 1992 Palinologicheskaya kharakteristika stoyanki Vorontsovskaya peshchera. In Voprosy arkheologii Adygei. Maikop: Meoty, pp. 93–102.
31. Levkovskaya G.M. 1994 Palinologicheskaya kharakteristika otlozheniy Barakayevskoy peshchery. In Neandertaltsy Gupsskogo ushchelya na Severnom Kavkaze. Maikop: Meoty, pp. 77–82.
32. Levkovskaya G.M. 2007 Palinologicheskaya kharakteristika. In Treugolnaya Peshchera. Ranniy paleolit Kavkaza i Vostochnoy Yevropy. St. Petersburg: Ostrovityanin, pp. 73–81.
33. Lordkipanidze D.O. 1989 Rezultaty palinologicheskogo izucheniya peshchernoy stoyanki Ortvala-Klde. In Soobshcheniya AN Gruzinskoy SSR, vol. 134. Tbilisi: pp. 429–432.
34. Lordkipanidze D.O. 1992 Osobennosti vzaimodeistviya pervobytnykh lyudey i prirodnoy sredy v usloviyakh gornykh territoriy (na primere paleoliticheskikh peshcher Zapadnogo Zakavkazya): Cand. Sc. (Geography) Dissertation. Moscow.
35. Lyubin V.P. 1989 Paleolit Kavkaza. In Paleolit Kavkaza i Severnoy Azii. Leningrad: Nauka, pp. 9–142.
36. Mamatsashvili N.S. 1978 Palinologicheskoye izucheniye peshchernyh otlozheniy. In Izucheniye peshcher Kolkhidy (Tsutskhvatskaya mnogoyarusnaya karstovaya peshchernaya sistema). Tbilisi: Metsniereba, pp. 75–94.
37. Nioradze M.G., Mamatsashvili N.S. 1989 Palinologicheskiye danniye iz peshchery Ortvala (Zapadnaya Gruziya). In Soobshcheniya AN Gruzinskoy SSR, vol. 136. Tbilisi: pp. 493–496.
38. Nioradze M.G., Vekua A.G., Gabuniya L.K., Mamatsashvili N.S. 1978 Peshchera Sakazhia. In Arkheologiya i paleogeografiya rannego paleolita Kryma i Kavkaza. Moscow: Nauka, pp. 68–74.
39. Ogureeva G.N. 1980 Botanicheskaya geografiya Altaiskogo kraya. Moscow: Nauka.
40. Pelankova B., Chytrý M. 2009 Surface pollen-vegetation relationships in the forest-steppe, taiga and tundra landscapes on the Russian Altai Mountains. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, vol. 157: 253–265.
41. Rudaya N., Vasiliev S., Viola B., Talamo S., Markin S. 2017 Palaeoenvironments during the period of the Neanderthals settlement in Chagyrskaya cave (Altai Mountains, Russia). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, vol. 467: 265–276.
42. Scott L. 1987 Pollen analysis of hyena coprolites and sediments from Equus Cave, Taung, Southern Kalahari (South Africa). Quaternary Research, vol. 28: 144–156.
43. Smagin V.N., Ilyinskaya S.A., Nazimova D.I., Novoseltseva I.F., Cherednikova Y.S. 1980 Tipy lesov gor Yuzhnoy Sibiri. Novosibirsk: Nauka.
44. Yll R., Carrión J.S., Marra A.C., Bonfi glio L. 2006 Vegetation reconstruction on the basis of pollen in Late Pleistocene hyena coprolites from San Teodoro Cave (Sicily, Italy). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, vol. 237: 32–39.
Review
For citations:
Bolikhovskaya N.S., Shunkov M.V. Methodological Issues in Pollen Analysis of Pleistocene Deposits in Denisova Cave. Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia. 2024;52(3):17-29. https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2024.52.3.017-029
Views:
188
Email this article 