Natural Conditions and Resettlement Areas

Chapter 3 Natural Conditions and Resettlement Areas

The economy of ancient societies, especially agriculture of global cooling, even numbers — warming.5 Veklych’s in its traditional forms, was largely dependent on natu- scheme is global, but it can be used to create regional ral and climate conditions and on features of the natural and local schemes of environmental development in the landscape around settlements. The latter served as a base Holocene, since the planetary stages are manifested in for organization of agricultural production in a certain every region of the Earth, albeit with local peculiarities.6 area, a principal place of production of appropriate work- Others, however, have advanced different points of view ing tools, as well as a center for storing and processing of on the global synchronization of natural climate events the main products of agricultural activities. in the Holocene. For example, Aleksandr Aleksandrovskii and Elena Aleksandrovskaia propose that moisture was dominant in the Atlantic period of the Holocene, when 1 Natural Conditions some regions in Eurasia had a wet climate, while in others the climate was drier than today.7 A number of studies The chronological correction of natural and climate condi- have meanwhile confirmed the diversity of the climat- tions during the historical period.1 ic changes in different regions of the Earth during the Natural conditions were until very recently the most Middle and the Late Holocene.8 important factor in agricultural production, responsible In Khotinskii’s chart, the Holocene Subatlantic (SA) not only for the direction of development, but also for covers the last 2,800 years of environmental history. The the crops chose for cultivation and the breeds selected historical interval that we consider in this book coin- for animal husbandry. It is therefore most appropriate to cides with the second phase of the Holocene Subatlantic being the study of agriculture in the forest-steppe region (SA-2), 1,600 to 800 years ago. Khotinskii distinguishes between the Dnieper and the Don at the end of the first two stages — SA-2A (1,600 to 1,200 years ago) and SA-2B millennium AD, we with natural conditions and the cli- (1,200 to 800 years ago). The Saltiv archaeological culture mate, as well as their interrelations. flourished during stage SA-2B (Fig. 3.1). It is crucial to match archaeological chronologies (es- Of great interest is the reconstruction of natural condi- pecially the period of the Saltiv culture) with the time tions in the central region of Eastern Europe, with in the scale of climate (Fig. 3.1). The Saltiv culture, which flour- forest-steppe belt, where economic activity of the Saltiv ished during the last quarter of the first millennium (from communities took place. Some general idea about the the mid-8th to the mid-10th century) coincides with the natural environment may be obtained from the analysis of late Holocene. Scholars have divided the Holocene into literary sources. On the other hand, the chronological in- short climate phases. Several climate periodizations have terval 1,200 to 800 years ago is that of the Medieval Warm been advanced for the Holocene. In Ukraine, the most Period.9 In the Central Russian Upland, The Medieval prominent is that of N. A. Khotinskii,2 combined to M. F. Warm Period brought a stabilization of the geomorpho- Veklych’s studies.3 This combination is the basis for more logical systems, without slope erosion and decrease in recent periodizations of the Holocene.4 the intensity of alluvial accumulation. Between 1,440 and M. F. Veklych operates with the following conventions: 1,060 years ago (dates of buried soils), a process of soil for- hl — Holocene; с — nanostage of the first subordination mation continuously took place on the surface of flood- (period); a first Arabic numeral — nanostage of the second plains and on slopes in river valleys, as well as on slopes subordination (sub-period); a second Arabic numeral — and on bottoms of ravines. This process is responsible (after the dash) — micro-stage; odd numbers — the time

5 Those conventions vary from one publication to the other (Veklych 1987; Veklych and Gerasimenkov 1993; Matviishyna 2010). For this 1 We would like to thank Iurii G. Chendev for his advice and clarifica- book, however, we have adopted the conventions in Veklych 1987. tions on palaeogeography. 6 Veklych and Gerasimenko 1993, 86–87. 2 Khotinskii 1977. 7 Aleksandrovskii and Aleksandrovskaia 2005, 182. 3 Khotinskii 1977; Veklych 1987. 8 Chendev 2008, 12–16. 4 Matviishyna 2010, 132–133. 9 Borisenkov and Pasetskii 1983.

Figure 3.1 Holocene phases (based on the fragment of chronological scheme from: Matviishyna 2010, 132, plate 4.1). The period of the Saltiv culture is shown in gray (made by S. A. Gorbanenko) for one of five Holocene soils identified in depressions of northern steppe province. The forest-steppe landscapes natural erosion.10 in the territory under study territory are typically decidu- ous forests of the Kharkiv type and steppe meadows of the 1.1 Natural Zone Kolomak type.12 The area under study corresponds is located in the forest- steppe zone at the center of Eastern Europe. The sites are 1.2 Relief located in the southern part of the forest-steppe zone, The forest-steppe region is a land of rolling hills.13 The at different distances (from 5–10 to 40–50 km) from the series of low hills was created by valleys and ravines cut- northern boundary of the steppe zone, which runs from ting through the plain area. This is particularly true for the west to east from the source of the Orchik to the sources watershed plateau, which is cut by ravines branching in of the Berestova and Bereka rivers. The boundary crosses many directions, and covered by forest.14 Three types of the Donets near the present-day town of Balakliia, then relief predominate: watershed plateaus, gently sloping; turning northeast, passes through the upper reaches sloping and steep banks of rivers and ravines; and low- of Velyky Burluk, where it runs approximately between lands near rivers. Dissected loess plains are common in Valuiki and Liski.11 In terms of landscape zones, the the northern part of central Russian forest-steppe prov- western part of this area is within the Left-Bank Dnieper ince. In the south, the landscape is dominated by highly (Livoberezhnodniprovska) forest-steppe province, while dissected, loess relict hilly elevations and their slopes with the eastern one belongs to the central Russian forest- deep gullies, ravines and landslides. Two denudation lev- steppe province. The Left-Bank Dnieper province com- els are predominant: Neogene, which is about 200 m high, prises two elevated physical-geographic areas — the and Paleogene, with an altitude of less than 200 m. River northern and southern Poltava (Pivnichnopoltavska and valleys with downcutting depth of 100 to 150 m are quite Pivdennopoltavska) areas. The steppe zone is located typical. A network of gullies and ravines is well branched outside the area of the sites under study. At the south- (dissection density is 1.1 to 1.5 km/sq km). A combination ern border of the forest-steppe belt natural landscapes of of young (gullies, ravines, and river valleys) and old (chan- northern steppe belt appear: the Left-Bank Dnieper-Sea nels of glacier runoff) forms is characteristic. Tectonic of Azov (Livoberezhnodniprovsko-Priazovska) north- movements and erosion played a significant role in the ern steppe province, the Donets (Donetska) northern formation of the current relief.15 steppe province, the Western Donets (Zakhidnodonetska) highlands, and the Donets-Don (Zadonetsko-Donska) 12 Gerenchuk 1964, 9. 13 Popov, Marynych, and Lan’ko 1968, 226. 10 Sycheva and Chichagova 1999. 14 Monin 1957, 172. 11 Milkov 1950, 179. 15 Babychev and Marynych 1993, 178.