Geomorphological settings of the Early Medieval settlements within river valleys in the Dnieper-Dvina region; northwestern European Russia

The most active relief changes in the Northwest of European Russia during the last millennia were due to the geomorphological activity of rivers. Reconstruction of these changes is of great importance for the studies of the Late Holocene archaeological sites, many of which are located in the bottoms of river valleys. The studies performed at two key sites – Shnitkino (Toropa River valley, Western Dvina River basin) and Gnezdovo (upper Dnieper valley) – allowed to reconstruct the appearance of local landscapes in the Early Middle Ages. The geological and geomorphological structure of the valley sections was studied, and radiocarbon dating of the deposits was performed. The studied Early Medieval settlements were founded on the shores of lakes of non-oxbow type, quite numerous in the river valleys of the Dnieper-Dvina region. The mechanism of lake formation differed due to differences in the post-glacial history of the river valleys: in the glacial zone these could be residual lakes originating from larger post-glacial lakes (lake Shnitkino in the Toropa river valley), outside the boundary of the last glaciation – lakes associated with river activity (lakes Kamyshi and Bezdonka in the upper Dnieper valley). It has been found that during the Medieval Climate Warming (VIII–XII centuries) the magnitude of floods was lower than now, which allowed the settling of floodplains of rivers normally inundated by spring floods. The dynamics of river valleys in the Late Holocene was reconstructed. The development of river valleys was generally dominated by accumulation processes. Sediment accumulation on the river floodplains was interrupted when flood levels decreased, as during the Medieval Climate Warming, and resumed when the hydrological regime changed towards an increase in floods (the Little Ice Age in the 14th–19th centuries).

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