The periglacial zone of Eastern Europe and the habitat conditions of Upper Palaeolithic humans in this area

Abstract

Article in French.

ORIGINAL TITLE: La zone périglaciaire de l'Europe orientale et les conditions d'habitat de l'homme du Paléolithique supérieur dans cette zone

Research by geographers, geologists and archaeologists demonstrates that, during the Upper Palaeolithic, in the Russian Plain, prehistoric humans lived within the periglacial zone of the last glaciation (the Upper Pleistocene – the so-called Valdai glaciation). The ice sheet advancing from the north caused significant landscape changes in the adjacent area. Typical surface structures, traces of prehistoric human activity, data on mammalian fauna, and palaeobotanical analyses demonstrate the prevailing conditions during the cooling period, which was accompanied by increased aridity and thinning of the vegetation cover. However, the harsh climatic conditions were not constant. In several regions located within the periglacial zone and covered with loess, traces of fossil soils have been found, providing evidence of phases of a more temperate climate. In particular, in the area of ​​Upper Palaeolithic settlement on the Desna River, three loess layers have been identified, separated by two zones containing traces of fossil soils. Studies of the conditions at the Palaeolithic site indicate that humans lived there primarily during warmer periods. Prehistoric settlement spread from south to north, but this evolution was uneven. Most Upper Palaeolithic sites are located in the Dniester, Dnieper, Desna and Don river basins – that is, in the basins of the rivers flowing into the Black Sea. The number of sites along the rivers flowing into the Caspian Sea is significantly smaller.

Prehistoric people preferred to settle in areas with specific topographic conditions: on the right slopes of valleys or at the mouths of small valleys. These conditions ensured, on the one hand, good drainage and, on the other, proximity to valleys rich in vegetation and fauna. In some places, several Upper Palaeolithic cultural layers have been discovered, demonstrating that human activity occurred multiple times, always depending on the morphological conditions and the abundance of fauna. In these favourable topographic conditions, prehistoric people sheltered in structures with hearths or in huts dug into the ground, allowing them to survive the harsh winters.