Archaeological sites as markers of Neopleistocene-Holocene hydrological system transformation in the Kurai and Chuya basins, Southeastern Altai: Results of geomorphological and geoarchaeological studies
https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2016.44.4.026-034
Abstract
Multidisciplinary studies using geomorphological, geoarchaeological, and geochronological approaches indicate contrasting environmental changes in southeastern Altai beginning from the Late Pleistocene. Twenty-eight new radiocarbon dates from the subaerial complex overlying Late Neopleistocene sediments in the high-altitude Kurai and Chuya basins confi rm the degradation of a single ice-dammed reservoir in that area during the Early Holocene. In the fi rst half of the Holocene, those basins were fi lled with isolated lakes. At the Baratal River mouth in the western Kurai basin, a reservoir with a water level of at least 1480 m a.s.l. emerged ca 10–6.5 ka BP, whereas in the Chuya depression, numerous residual lakes had existed at least 8 ka BP. Landslide- and morainedammed lakes between the depressions in the Chuya valley had existed until 7–3 ka BP, when they drained away. The preservation state of in situ archaeological sites, their cultural affi liation, and their location within the depressions and along the main Chuya valley attest to spatial and temporal changes of the hydrological system. This evolution occurred in the second half of the Holocene and did not entail major consequences for humans.
About the Authors
A. R. Agatova
Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences;
Ural Federal University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Pr. Akademika Koptyuga 3, Novosibirsk, 630090;
Mira 19, Yekaterinburg, 620002
R. K. Nepop
Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences;
Ural Federal University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Pr. Akademika Koptyuga 3, Novosibirsk, 630090;
Mira 19, Yekaterinburg, 620002
I. Y. Slyusarenko
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences;
Novosibirsk State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090;
Pirogova 2, Novosibirsk, 630090
V. S. Myglan
Siberian Federal University
Russian Federation
Pr. Svobodnyi 79, Krasnoyarsk, 660041
Russian Federation
Pr. Svobodnyi 79, Krasnoyarsk, 660041
V. V. Barinov
Siberian Federal University
Russian Federation
Pr. Svobodnyi 79, Krasnoyarsk, 660041
Russian Federation
Pr. Svobodnyi 79, Krasnoyarsk, 660041
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Review
For citations:
Agatova A.R., Nepop R.K., Slyusarenko I.Y., Myglan V.S., Barinov V.V. Archaeological sites as markers of Neopleistocene-Holocene hydrological system transformation in the Kurai and Chuya basins, Southeastern Altai: Results of geomorphological and geoarchaeological studies. Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia. 2016;44(4):26-34. https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2016.44.4.026-034
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