extended abstracts - Geomorphic Processes and Geoarchaeology

Geomorphic processes and geoarchaeology
KROTOVINAS AND STRATIGRAPHIC AMBIGUITIES IN THE UPPER
PALAEOLITHIC SITES KOSTIËNKI AND BORSHCHEVO
(MIDDLE RUSSIAN PLAIN)
Pietsch Dana 1 , Kühn Peter 1 , Lisitsyn Sergey 2 , Markova Anastasia 3 ,
Sedov Sergey 4 , Sinitsyn Andrey 2
1
Chair of Physical Geography and Soil Science, Tübingen,
Germany, dana.pietsch@uni-tuebingen.de
2
Institute for the History of Material Culture, RAS, St. Petersburg, Russia
3 Institute of Geography, RAS, Moscow, Russia
4 Instituto de Geología, UNAM, Mexico
The Upper Palaeolithic sites Kostiënki and Borshevo (fig. 1) are worldwide known
and have been investigated since the end of the 19 th century [1, 2]. The importance of
geoscientific research in archaeological contexts increased within the last decades, mainly
for reasons of palaeoenvironmental reconstruction in the area of the excavated sites [3, 4],
including research on sedimentation processes and soil development [5], in the present
case during the period from 40.000 BP until today. Beside unique archaeological findings
such as mammoth bone- dwelling constructions or Venus figurines the localities yield a
high variety of colluvial deposits, volcanic ashes, and paleosols beneath the
Holocene Chernosem.
Figure 1. Location of Kostiënki and Borshevo (from Anikovich et al., 2007) and
distribution of krotovinas in K14 in 2011 (black krotovina are filled with pedosediment of
the Holocene Tschernosem; brown, greyish and whitish fillings are of different origin and
composition)
While stratigraphy and cultural chronology – despite some gaps – are known in
general, questions of stratigraphical ambiguities, i.e. missing paleosols or colluvial
deposits, remained unanswered. When comparing different sections and excavations, one
important problem is the irregular occurrence of the Gmelin soil (about 25.000-21.000
BP) or the number of humic beds of the Bryansk soil (about 32.000-27.000 BP) [5]. In
contrast, a common and omni-present feature in all sections is the high amount of
krotovinas (fig. 1) of e.g. Lagurus lagurus and Cricetus cricetus: paleontological data
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