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Natural conditions and sociocultural development in the Mid-Kama region (cis-Ural, Russia) over the last ten millennia: insights from the Shabunichi‑1 peat core
The Ural Mountains represent a distinctive bioecological and climatic boundary between Europe and Asia, simultaneously uniting them through cultural, ethnic, and economic ties throughout history. To investigate these complex human-environment interactions during the last ~ 10,000, we obtained a peat core Shabunichi-1 and analyzed it using AMS radiocarbon dating, loss-on-ignition, pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, micro- and macrocharcoal analyses. Our palaeoecological study demonstrate that climate and frequent fres were the main drivers of ecosystem change until ~ 4,000 cal bp. Dry climate conditions between ~9,300 and 7,400 cal bp resulted in the dominance of pine-birch forest-steppe as well as frequent local fres. Subsequent climate humifcation led to the expansion of broad-leaved-dark coniferous forests and a change in the fre regime, reducing the frequency and/or severity of fre events between ~ 7,400 and 5,100 cal bp. The peak in climatic humidity was reached between 5,100 and 3,900 cal bp, which favored the development of spruce forests with a greater admixture of broad-leaved species. After ~4,000 cal bp, anthropogenic impacts began to shape the appearance of regional ecosystems culminating in the maximum landscape openness during the Bronze and Iron Ages. The activities of Bronze Age cultures and the emergence of metallurgy and pastoralism in the region led to the strong decline of spruce forests and the spread of secondary pine-birch formations and meadows. Human impact during the Iron Age and the emergence of agriculture in the region caused the largest local fres and the reduction of interfuvial forests. Despite humans becoming the primary driver of ecosystem change in the second half of the Middle and Late Holocene, climate continued to play a critical role in triggering cultural transformations and migration processes in the region.