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A Climatostratigraphy of Pleistocene Deposits in the East Chamber of Denisova Cave
https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2026.54.1.003-015
Abstract
We present a detailed climatostratigraphic subdivision of Pleistocene deposits in the East Chamber of Denisova Cave, northwestern Altai. On the basis of the taphonomic and morphological analysis of pollen from those deposits, over 140 taxa of higher plants were identified. A comparative analysis of modern tree and shrub vegetation in the Upper Anuy valley and that reconstructed from remains in the East Chamber reveals a much greater diversity of Pleistocene formations. Environmental changes around Denisova Cave over the past 300 thousand years are assessed. Boundaries and paleogeographic characteristics of certain stages are specified, climatic and phytocenotic successions of warm and cold intervals are revealed, and specific features of periglacial flora and vegetation are described. On the basis of changes in the qualitative and quantitative composition of pollen spectra from lithological units 17.1–9, 32 zones are described, including three groups with spectra typical of relatively warm periods such as the Tobol, Shirta, and Kazantsevo interglacials of Western Siberia. The pollen zone relating to the Karga interstadial includes five spectra of an interstadial type and one also typical of interglacials, with the predominance of oak, lime, ash, alder, and hazel. Four groups of pollen zones, represented by periglacial spectra, indicate cold stages, specifically the Samara, Taz, Yermakovo, and Sartan.
Keywords
Denisova Cave,
Pleistocene deposits,
pollen analysis,
geochronology,
climatostratigraphy,
paleogeographic reconstructions
Supporting agencies: Geoarchaeological research and collection of palynological samples in Denisova Cave were supported by the Russian Science Foundation, Grant No. 24-18-00069, https://rscf.ru/project/24-18-00069. The study was carried out by N.S. Bolikhovskaya under the federal research themes of the Faculty of Geography of the Lomonosov Moscow State University: “Global Climate Changes and Environmental Evolution of Northern Eurasia and Arctic Seas in the Quaternary: Methods, Paleoreconstructions, and Long-Term Forecast” and “Conditions and Mechanisms of Natural and Anthropogenic Transformation of Relief in the Meso-Cenozoic”. The authors express their deep gratitude to M.B. Kozlikin for assistance in collecting samples and preparing illustrative material.
About the Authors
N. S. Bolikhovskaya
Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Professor, Leading Researcher, Lomonosov Moscow State University.
Vorobyevy Gory, Moscow, 119992
M. V. Shunkov
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Chief Researcher, Department Head, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences.
Akademika Lavrentieva pr. 17, Novosibirsk, 630090
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Review
For citations:
Bolikhovskaya N.S., Shunkov M.V. A Climatostratigraphy of Pleistocene Deposits in the East Chamber of Denisova Cave. Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia. 2026;54(1):3-15. https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2026.54.1.003-015
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