Palaeoecological signals from floodplain and terrace peatlands decipher ancient land use in the Mid-Kama Valley (cis-Ural, Russia)

In prehistoric times, humans relied heavily on the physical environment. Topography and climate change significantly influenced ancient cultures, settlement patterns and land use strategies. To gain a comprehensive understanding of environmental and land use changes in the Mid-Kama region, we obtained a core Krasavino from the Kama floodplain and analyzed it using AMS radiocarbon dating, loss-on-ignition, pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, micro- and macrocharcoal analyses. The obtained results were then compared with the palaeoecological records from terraces. The results show that terrace and floodplain records generally reflect similar trends in the environmental Holocene history of the region. They demonstrate the dominance of southern taiga spruce-pine-birch forests in the Middle Holocene (5800-4000 cal BP), the development of fir-spruce-hemiboreal forests ~4000-2000 cal BP, and the prevalence of fir-spruce and secondary pine-birch forests along with a wide distribution of meadows, ruderal communities and croplands in the last 2000 years. Significant differences in anthropogenic indicators from floodplain and terrace records reveal a clear distinction in land use practices – animal husbandry was primarily confined to floodplains, while agriculture was concentrated on terraces and interfluves. A strong paludification of the Kama Valley at ~2000 cal BP triggered increased competition for pastures and ultimately led to the exodus of the Early Iron Age population from the region. Only during the past 300 years, agriculture has also expanded into floodplains, coinciding with the development of villages that engage in gardening.