Palaeoecological investigations on the Bronze and Iron Age in the settlement area Konoplyanka in the southern Trans-Urals (Russia)

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Astrid Stobbe
• Subject Area: Prehistory and World Archaeology
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 452793577

In the Eurasian steppe, mobile herding has been the traditional and extremely successful way of life for thousands of years, but recent findings of archaeobotanical research and isotope analysis have shown that the picture of exclusive pasture farming in prehistoric times must be viewed in a much more differentiated way. Some studies from Kazakhstan or Turkmenistan point at mixed agropastoral systems in the Bronze Age, which were very well adapted to the local social and ecological conditions and changed over time. In the southern Trans-Ural, too, mobile grazing was abandoned in the Middle Bronze Age and fortified permanent settlements were established during the Sintašta-Petrovka phase, but without evidence of arable farming. Open settlement structures are documented in this area until the Late Bronze Age, but are missing from the final Bronze Age and Iron Age. Within the interdisciplinary joint research with archaeology and genetics, the archaeobotanical/geoarchaeological project aims to reconstruct the ecological and economic situation in the face of physiographic factors such as climate and vegetation. The spread of agricultural patterns, the possible adaptation of cultivated plants and the general subsistence strategies in the Bronze Age are going to be investigated, assisted by isotope studies on human and faunal bones. The available archaeobotanical samples are unique for the Eurasian steppe in terms of quality and quantity, especially since representative investigations in the region usually suffer from poor source material. In contrast to many large-scale studies, a narrowly defined microregion will be investigated diachronically in order to identify specific developments and interrelationships in a targeted and high-resolution way. In the Konopljanka settlement cluster, plant spectra from settlement and burial contexts (kurgans) of the Middle and Late Bronze Age can be analysed over a period of about 500 years. In addition to fossil material, excellently preserved subfossil material from several well finds is also available. In an interdisciplinary approach and by means of numerous datings, it will also be assessed to what extent archaeological and genetic changes during the Bronze Age and the transition to the Iron Age correlate with climatic and environmental changes. The fossil bioindicators pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs from sediment cores from wetland archives form the respective proxies. In addition, systematic coring transects in the floodplain area will be used to investigate if basic topographic and ecological differences existed between the present fluvial landscape and that of the Bronze Age.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants