Palynological Evidence for the Presence of Agriculture Among the Early Iron Age Population in the Southern Fore-Urals
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24852/2587-6112.2026.2.130.146Keywords:
archaeology, Novo-Aleksandrovka settlement, spore-pollen analysis, Kara-Abyz culture, Post-Maklasheevka culture, cultivated cereals, segetal plants, Southern Fore-UralsAbstract
The papers presents the results of spore-pollen (palynological) analysis of the deposits of the Early Iron Age site of Novo-Aleksandrovka settlement, where palynological indicators of farming were discovered for the first time. The materials of the conducted paleo-reconstruction indicate that cultivated cereals were grown within the Novo-Aleksandrovka settlement, which existed in the 4th–2nd centuries BC, and their crops were infested with various segmental weeds (blue cornflower, field bindweed, and sweet clover). The archaeological material from the settlement belongs to the Kara-Abyz culture, where single fragments of Ananyino cultural and historical area pottery have been found. In the initial period, the settlement's territory differed favorably from the Kara-Abyz culture other sites due to its lower forest cover, which undoubtedly contributed to the development of agriculture in this location. In later phases, the northern periphery of the settlement began to grow over with forest. At this time, anthropogenic influence on the territory was limited due to the destruction of vegetation cover and active trampling, and agricultural activity ceased.
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