A CONNECTION BETWEEN THE SETTLEMENT DYNAMIC OF THE EASTERN PAMIR AND PALEOCLIMATIC CHANGES IN THE LATE GLACIAL AND HOLOCENE
Abstract
This article is devoted to a review of the data on the chronology of the occupation of the Eastern Pamirs high-lands and the paleoecological reconstructions. At this moment it is known that there are two main episodes of the settlement of the region in the Final Pleistocene – Middle Holocene: 12–8 ka BP. (the main archaeological sites are the Istyk cave and the Kurteke grotto) and 8–6 thousand years ago (Oshkhona, Shakhty, Istykskaya cave, Kurteke). The review shows that these episodes coincide with the periods of the most favorable paleoclimatic conditions. The climate of the region in general is characterized as arid desert, with a predominance of open spaces of desert-steppe and desert appearance. The time intervals about 15–13 thousand years ago and about 9–8 thousand years ago are characterized with a transition from xerophilic groups to more mesophilic, which indicates a humidification of the climate during these periods. The researchers note that these climatic changes are likely to be pan-regional. The revealed cyclicality of climate changes in the Eastern Pamir region is comparable to archaeological data: the time intervals in when an increase in the climate humidity of the region is noted are similar to the intervals in when, according to archaeological data, the region was populated. Further paleoecological reconstructions of the Eastern Pamirs will reveal the connection between the cyclicality of climatic changes in the region and human settlement in its territory.
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