AbstractsGeography &GIS

The main purpose of this research project was to develop a comprehensive description of climate change in Western Eurasia during Holocene, using the method of literature review, including reports of palynological, lacustrine, pedological and archaeological site contexts. An inventory of all assembled and collated proxies used for the area between the Vistula River/Poland, the Carpathian Mountains, the Urals Mountains and the Caspian Sea was established (20-60°E, 42-70°N). The northernmost border corresponds to the Barents Sea and White Sea, and the southernmost border is located close to the Black Sea and the Caucasian Mountains. Over the last decades palaeoenvironmental events have increasingly been put forth by archaeologists as representing at least one important cause of changes in cultures in the East European Steppe over the last 8000 years. Thus, a comprehensive study on the issue "Late quaternary spatial-temporal analysis of palaeoenvironments in Western Eurasia based on climate proxies" can provide a reliable basis in this discussion. Methods used to acquire proxy data for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction vary. However, interpretations of these data, is of often set within a broad framework, with local findings used to explain global changes. Time-dependent frequency distribution of proxy data from Western Eurasia indicating palaeoclimate conditions clearly show the following: 1. Early Holocene cooling with fluctuations in aridity and humidity occurred between 10,000-8200 BP. 2. Middle Holocene warming with increasing humidity around 8200-5000 BP is known as the Holocene optimum 3. Middle Holocene warming and aridization date to 5000-3000 BP has also known as “xerothermic phase”. 4. Late Holocene cooling and increasing humidity data to 3000-2500 BP and is also known as the Neoglacial period. The research conducted on the basis of proxy data enables to detect major palaeoclimatic oscillations in Western Eurasiaduring the Holocene. The analysis reveals several shifts in palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironment that may have affected the way of life of prehistoric populations. Ziel dieser Arbeit war die umfassende Beschreibung des Holozänen Klimawandels in West-Eurasien. Dazu wurden im Rahmen einer Literaturrecherche palynologische, lakustrine, pedologische und archäologische Studien ausgewertet und in eine Datenbank überführt. Als Untersuchungsgebiet wurde der Raum zwischen Weichsel und Karpaten im Westen sowie Ural und Kaspischem Meer im Osten festgelegt. Im Norden bildeten die Barentsee und das Weiße Meer und im Süden der Kaukasus und das Schwarze Meer die Grenze. Ausgangslage der Untersuchung war die Tatsache, dass in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten archäologische Studien verstärkt zu dem Ergebnis kamen, dass eine Veränderung der Paläoumwelt zumindest eine der Hauptursachen für den kulturellen Wandel in der osteuropäischen Steppe innerhalb der vergangenen 8000 Jahre war. Dennoch lagen lediglich lokale Fallstudien zu unterschiedlichen Paläoklima-Proxies vor. Eine umfassende Betrachtung, die alle…