scholarly journals Radiocarbon Studies of Peat Bogs: an Investigation of South Kamchatka Volcanoes and Upper Volga Archeological Sites

Radiocarbon ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 43 (2B) ◽  
pp. 571-580 ◽  
Author(s):  
N E Zaretskaia ◽  
V V Ponomareva ◽  
L D Sulerzhitsky ◽  
M G Zhilin
Keyword(s):  
Environmental History ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Peat Bogs ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Volga River ◽  
Volga River Basin ◽  
Upper Volga ◽  
Sample Composition ◽  
Different Types ◽  
History Of

We have undertaken extensive programs of natural radiocarbon measurement to date the evidence for various events buried in peat bogs. Two case studies are described here: 1) the chronological reconstruction of South Kamchatka volcanic eruptions and, 2) investigation of multi-layered archeological sites in the Upper Volga River Basin. Studies of sample composition and peat taphonomy allowed us to determine the source of 14C age deviations and to reconstruct the environmental history of organic matter accumulation. Data sets, obtained from different types of peat bog and containing traces of these Holocene events, are discussed.

GIS Application to Water Quality Management in the Upper Volga River Basin: Joint TVA/Russia Project

1993 ◽  
Vol 28 (3-5) ◽  
pp. 119-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiana Belyaeva ◽  
John M. Higgins ◽  
Natalia Kirpichnikova ◽  
Irina Lanzova ◽  
James R. Hagerman
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Water Quality Management ◽  
Conceptual Approach ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Volga River ◽  
Volga River Basin ◽  
Joint Project ◽  
Upper Volga ◽  
Tennessee Valley ◽  
Resource Data

The Water Problem Institute of the Russian Academy of Science and the Tennessee Valley Authority are participating in a joint project to demonstrate the use of geographic information systems (GIS) in managing water resources under the changing economic system in Russia. The purpose is to improve decisions by better organizing, analyzing, and presenting water resource data and management options. Results to date include development of a conceptual approach and review of existing data. The project area includes the Upper Volga River Basin which encompasses the Moscow metropolitan area. Data are being managed at three levels depending on the scale and detail (i.e., regional, watershed, and local). Initial conclusions indicate a great potential for this technology, but many obstacles due to the current economic situation.

The Mesolithic site Ullafelsen in the Fotsch Valley (Tyrol, Austria) – a biomarker perspective

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Zech ◽  
Marcel Lerch ◽  
Marcel Bliedtner ◽  
Clemens Geitner ◽  
Dieter Schäfer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental History ◽  
Analytical Data ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Swiss Alps ◽  
Peat Bogs ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Alpine Regions ◽  
Bavarian Alps ◽  
History Of

<p>The archaeology of high mountain regions got high attention since the discovery of the copper age mummy called "Ötzi" in the Ötztaler Alps in 1991. Results of former archaeological research projects show that mesolithic hunter-gatherers lived in Alpine regions since the beginning of the Holocene, 11,700 years ago (Cornelissen & Reitmaier 2016). Amongst others, the Mesolithic site Ullafelsen (1860 m a.s.l.) and surroundings represent a very important archaeological reference site in the Fotsch Valley (Stubaier Alps, Tyrol) (Schäfer 2011). Many archaeological artifacts and fire places were found at different places in the Fotschertal, which provides evidence for the presence and the way of living of our ancestor. The "Mesolithic project Ullafelsen" includes different scientific disciplines ranging from high mountain archaeology over geology, geomorphology, soil science, sedimentology, petrography to palaeobotany (Schäfer 2011). Within an ongoing DFG project we aim at addressing questions related to past vegetation and climate, human history as well as their influence on pedogenesis from a biomarker and stable isotope perspective (cf. Zech et al. 2011). Our results for instance suggest that (i) the dominant recent and past vegetation can be chemotaxonomically differentiated based on leaf wax-derived <em>n</em>-alkane biomarkers, (ii) there is no evidence for buried Late Glacial topsoils being preserved on the Ullafelsen as argued by Geitner et al. (2014), rather humic-rich subsoils were formed as B<sub>h</sub>-horizons by podsolisation and (iii) marked vegetations changes likely associated with alpine pasture activities since the Bronce Age are documented in Holocene peat bogs in the Fotsch Valley. Nevertheless, there remain some challenges by joining all analytical data in order to get a consistent overall picture of human-environmental history of this high mountain region.</p><p>Cornelissen & Reitmaier (2016): Filling the gap: Recent Mesolithic discoveries in the central and south-eastern Swiss Alps. In: Quaternary International, 423.</p><p>Geitner, C., Schäfer, D., Bertola, S., Bussemer, S., Heinrich, K. und J. Waroszewski (2014): Landscape archaeological results and discussion of Mesolithic research in the Fotsch valley (Tyrol). In: Kerschner, H., Krainer, K. and C. Spötl: From the foreland to the Central Alps – Field trips to selected sites of Quaternary research in the Tyrolean and Bavarian Alps (DEUQUA EXCURSIONS), Berlin, 106-115.</p><p>Schäfer (2011): Das Mesolithikum-Projekt Ullafelsen (Teil 1). Mensch und Umwelt im Holozän Tirols (Band 1). 560 p., Innsbruck: Philipp von Zabern.</p><p>Zech, M., Zech, R., Buggle, B., Zöller, L. (2011): Novel methodological approaches in loess research - interrogating biomarkers and compound-specific stable isotopes. In: E&G Quaternary Science Journal, 60.</p>

“We Cannot Pray Without Kumyshka”: Alcohol in Udmurt Ritual Life

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-239
Author(s):  
Eva Toulouze ◽  
Laur Vallikivi
Keyword(s):  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Volga River ◽  
Volga River Basin ◽  
Russian Orthodoxy ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Central Russia ◽  
History Of ◽  
A Site ◽  
The 19Th Century

Abstract We trace the history of the uses of the alcoholic drink known as kumyshka among the Udmurt. Our focus is on kumyshka’s ritual uses both in public and domestic contexts in the second half of the 19th century, the early 20th century as well as the early 21st century. We suggest that kumyshka not only represents a site of resistance to the dominant religious regime, i.e. Russian Orthodoxy, but is also a tool for self-enhancement and identity making for this indigenous people in the Volga River basin in Central Russia. The consumption of kumyshka has been a frequent object of criticism in the accounts of Orthodox clergy, scholars, doctors, travellers and administrators. Most accounts show a moralising stance, which only occasionally reflects the local understandings behind its uses. As anthropologists working in the region, we compare these historical sources with the current practices. We discuss changes in the religious sphere as well as in gender roles related to the uses of kumyshka.

Environmental history

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Richard T. Corlett
Keyword(s):  
Environmental History ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Homo Erectus ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Natural Catastrophes ◽  
Urban Settlements ◽  
History Of ◽  
Spread Of Agriculture

This chapter covers the environmental history of Tropical East Asia, starting with its assembly from Gondwanan fragments during the Mesozoic. Changes in sea level, climate, and vegetation are covered in increasing detail from the Eocene to the present day, and the influence of volcanic eruptions and other natural catastrophes is discussed. The history of human occupation is outlined, from the appearance of Homo erectus more than a million years ago, through the arrival of modern humans in the region 80,000–50,000 years ago, to the spread of agriculture and the development of urban settlements. Human impacts on natural ecosystems are considered throughout the period of occupation, culminating in the concept of the human-dominated Anthropocene.

A 7300-yr-old environmental history of seabird, human, and volcano impacts on Carlisle Island (the Islands of Four Mountains, eastern Aleutians, Alaska)

2019 ◽  
Vol 91 (03) ◽  
pp. 934-952 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evgeniya A. Kuzmicheva ◽  
Olesya I. Smyshlyaeva ◽  
Dmitry D. Vasyukov ◽  
Bulat F. Khasanov ◽  
Olga A. Krylovich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental History ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Initial Stage ◽  
History Of ◽  
Tephra Layers ◽  
Strong Winds ◽  
Human Predation ◽  
The Fourier Transform ◽  
Fertilizing Effect

AbstractWe present the results of multiproxy study of a peat deposit from Carlisle Island (the Islands of Four Mountains, Aleutians). Vegetation on the initial stage of the peat is characterized by heath vegetation dominated by Ericales indicating cold conditions at 7300–6100 cal yr BP. The appearance of Betula and Alnus is the result of long-distance transportation attributable to strong winds at this time. Sedge-grass (Cyperaceae and Poaceae) communities began replacing heath vegetation at 6100 cal yr BP because of the climatic amelioration. C/N ratios and pollen spectra remain relatively stable at 6100–2450 cal yr BP. For the CR-03 peatland, volcanic tephra contributed significantly to the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectral data. Volcanic input created overlap of an aluminosilicate signal with carbohydrate vibrations. Significant changes occurred at approximately 2450 cal yr BP when there is the some evidence of cooler and wetter conditions of the Neoglacial. High values of δ15N observed at 7100–7000 cal yr BP reflect the fertilizing effect of seabird nesting colonies. A decrease in δ15N ca. 6900 cal yr BP may indicate initial settlement on Carlisle Island corresponding with harvesting seabirds. Human predation continued until a series of volcanic eruptions, which deposited Okmok II and CR-02 tephra layers at ca. 2000 and 1050 cal yr BP, respectively.

The main principles and results of pollution monitoring of sediments in the river basin

2020 ◽  
pp. 14-20
Author(s):  
B. Korzhenevsky ◽  
Gleb Tolkachev ◽  
Nikolay Kolomiycev
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Water Exchange ◽  
Pollution Monitoring ◽  
Small Rivers ◽  
Volga River ◽  
Natural Landscape ◽  
Volga River Basin ◽  
Ivankovo Reservoir ◽  
Selection Of

The problems of modern geological ecology associated with the study of pollution of sediments of water bodies by heavy metals are considered. The Volga River basin is quite heterogeneous, both in geomorphological and hydrological terms, and in thechnogenical development and usage. A fourrank taxonomy is presented for the selection of sites for monitoring, based on a combination of natural, landscape, climatic and thechnogenical factors. To the largest – the highest taxon – sites of the Ist category – bowls of reservoirs with the slopes and the urban zones, industrial and agricultural structures located within them are carried. Within these areas are allocated to smaller taxa, areas category IInd are the industrial and urban zones, areas category IIIrd are the small rivers without significant contamination and areas category IVth to conduct special observations. The examples of special observations in the study of the annual migration of heavy metals in the system «bottom sediments – water column» on the Ivankovo reservoir are highlighted. The investigations were carried out under the conditions of the standard flow rate for this reservoir and in the conditions of slow water exchange.

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