Woodland Dynamics and Human Activity Based on Charcoal Analysis from Hillforts of the Iron Age and Early Middle Ages in the Upper Volga River

Soil charcoals in cultural layers of three hillforts located in the upper Volga River (Peno District, Tver Region) were studied in soil cores and archaeological excavations. The characteristics of the cultural layers of the hillforts allow us to refer it to the category of Archaeological Dark Earth with a thickness from 50 to 80 cm. The age of charcoals and archaeological findings showed that the cultural layers of Zaborovka-Likhusha and Voroshilovo hillforts belong to the Early Iron Age (the Dyakovo culture) and Runa-Zaborovka hillfort belongs to the Early Middle Ages. A total of 629 charcoal fragments belonging to 13 woody genera were taxonomically identified. The charcoals of the 12 dated samples were evaluated for changes in the taxonomic composition over time. In all periods, Pinus charcoals dominated, followed by Picea; their proportions increased from the Early Iron Age to the High-Late Middle Ages. For the Early Iron Age, the largest number of taxa, 9 woody species, including Quercus, Ulmus, and Acer, was observed. The information obtained from the soil charcoal composition is a valuable evidence of the presence of tree taxa in a particular area at a particular time; it details the reconstruction of the history of vegetation in the upper Volga River. 

1. Acksel A., Amelung W., Kühn P., Gehrt E., Regier T., and Leinweber P. Soil organic matter characteristics as indicator of Chernozem genesis in the Baltic Sea region. Geoderma Regional. 2016. Vol. 7. No. 2. P. 187–200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geodrs.2016.04.001

2. Acksel A., Kappenberg A., Kühn P., and Leinweber P. Human activity formed deep, dark topsoils around the Baltic Sea. Geoderma Regional. 2017. Vol. 10. P. 93–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geodrs.2017.05.005

3. Asare M.O., Horák J., Šmejda L., Janovský M., and Hejcman M. A medieval hillfort as an island of extraordinary fertile Archaeological Dark Earth soil in the Czech Republic. European Journal of Soil Science. 2021. Vol. 72. No. 1. P. 98–113. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejss.12965

4. Benatti A., Bal M., Allée P., Bosi G., and Mercuri A.M. Plant landscape reconstruction above the current timberline at the Monte Cimone and Corno alle Scale mountain areas (Northern Apennines, Italy) during the Late Holocene: The evidence from soil charcoal. Holocene. 2019. Vol. 29. No. 11. P. 1767–1781. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683619862033

5. Benkova V.E. and Schweingruber F.H. Anatomy of Russian Woods. An Atlas for the Identification of Trees, Shrubs, dwarf Shrubs and Woody Lianas from Russia. Bern: Etc. Haupt Verlag, 2004. 456 p.

6. Bobek P., Svobodová-Svitavská H., Pokorný P., Šamonil P., Kune P., Kozáková R., Abraham V., Klinerová T., Švarcová M.G., Jamrichová E., Krauseová E., and Wild J. Divergent fire history trajectories in Central European temperate forests revealed a pronounced influence of broadleaved trees on fire dynamics. Quaternary Science Reviews. 2019. Vol. 222. P. 105865. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.105865

7. Carcaillet C. and Talon B. A view of the wood charcoal stratigraphy and dating in soil: a case study of some soils from the French. Géographie physique et Quaternaire. 1996. Vol. 50. No. 2. P. 233–244.

8. Carcaillet C. and Thinon M. Pedoanthracological contribution to the study of the evolution of the upper treeline in the Maurienne Valley (North French Alps): methodology and preliminary data. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 1996. Vol. 91. No. 1–4. P. 399–416. https://doi.org/10.1016/0034-6667(95)00060-7

9. Devos Y., De Groote K., Moens J., and Vrydaghs L. Facing complexity: An interdisciplinary study of an early medieval Dark Earth witnessing pasture and crop cultivation fromthe centre of Aalst (Belgium) Soils as records of past and Present. From soil surveys to archaeological sites: research strategies for interpreting soil characteristics. Raakvlak. 2019. P. 159–171. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3420729

10. Devos Y., Vrydaghs L., Degraeve A., and Fechner K. An archaeopedological and phytolitarian study of the “Dark Earth” on the site of Rue de Dinant (Brussels, Belgium). Catena. 2009. Vol. 78. No. 3. P. 270–284. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2009.02.013

11. Dotterweich M. and Schreg R. Archaeonics-(Geo) archaeological studies in Anthropogenic Dark Earths (ADE) as an example for future-oriented studies of the past. Quaternary International. 2019. Vol. 502. P. 309–318. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2018.09.026

12. Eremeev I.I. and Dzyuba O.F. Ocherki istoricheskoi geografii lesnoi chasti. Puti iz varyag v greki. Arkheologicheskie i paleogeograficheskie issledovaniya mezhdu Zapadnoi Dvinoi i ozerom Il’men’ (Essays on the historical geography of the forest part of the Way from the Varangians to the Greeks. Archaeological and paleogeographic research between the Western Dvina and Lake Ilmen). St. Petersburg: Nestor-Istoriya (Publ.), 2010. 670 p. (in Russ.)

13. Ershova E.G., Alexandrovskiy A.L., and Krenke N.A. Evolution of landscapes of the Moskva River floodplain in the Atlantic and Subboreal: Pedological and palynological records. Catena. 2016. Vol. 137. P. 611–621. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2014.12.034

14. Ershova E.G., Alexandrovskiy A.L., and Krenke N.A. Paleosols, paleovegetation and Neolithic occupation of the Moskva River floodplain, Central Russia. Quaternary International. 2014. Vol. 324. P. 134–145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.01.031

15. Ershova E.G., Krenke N.A., Kittel P., and Lavrenov N.G. Archaeological sites in the Katynka river basin (Smolensk Region). IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. 2020. Vol. 438. No. 1. P. 012007. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/438/1/012007

16. Figueiral I. Wood resources in north-west Portugal: their availability and use from the late Bronze Age to the Roman period. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. 1996. Vol. 5. No. 1. P. 121–129. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00189442

17. Islanova I.V. Drevnosti v verkhov’yakh Volgi (rannii zheleznyi vek i rannee srednevekovʼe) (Antiquities in the Upper Volga (Early Iron Age and Early Middle Ages). Moscow: IA RAN (Publ.), 2012. 219 p. (in Russ.).

18. Islanova I.V. Kulʼturno-istoricheskie protsessy vo II–VIII vv. n. e. v basseinakh Verkhnei Volgi i Verkhnei Msty (Cultural and historical processes in the II–VIII centuries AD in the Upper Volga and Upper Msta basins). PhD thesis. Moscow: IA RAN (Publ.), 2020. 51 p. (in Russ.)

19. Islanova I.V. Poseleniya rannego zheleznogo veka na Verkhnei Volge (istochnikovaya baza) (Settlements of the early Iron Age on the Upper Volga (source base)). Kratkie soobshcheniya Instituta arkheologii. 2014a. Vol. 233. P. 46–54. (in Russ.).

20. Islanova I.V. Pozdnedʼyakovskie pamyatniki tipa Varvarina Gora (Late Dyakovo monuments of the Varvarin Gora type). Rossiiskaya arkheologiya. 2017. Vol. 2. P. 115– 129. (in Russ.)

21. Islanova I.V. Problemy izucheniya drevnostei I tys. n. e. Verkhnego Povolzh’ya i Valdaya (Problems of studying antiquities of the 1st millennium AD. Upper Volga and Valdai). Voprosy medievistiki. 2013. Vol. 51. P. 54–61. (in Russ.)

22. Islanova I.V. Voprosy izucheniya d’yakovskikh drevnostei Verkhnevolzh’ya i Valdaya (Questions of studying the Dyakovo antiquities of the Upper Volga and Valdai). Rossiiskaya arkheologiya. 2014b. Vol. 1. P. 14–19. (in Russ.)

23. IUSS Working Group. World reference base for soil resources 2014 (update 2015), international soil classification system for naming soils and creating legends for soil maps. World Soil Resources Reports. 2015. Vol. 106.

24. Krenke N.A. Drevnosti basseina Moskvy-reki ot neolita do srednevekovʼya: etapy kul’turnogo razvitiya, formirovanie proizvodyashchei ekonomiki i antropogennogo landshafta (Antiquities of the Moskva River basin from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages: stages of cultural development, the formation of a productive economy and an anthropogenic landscape). Smolensk: Svitok (Publ.), 2019. 392 p. (in Russ.)

25. Krenke N.A. Dʼyakovo gorodishche: kul’tura naseleniya basseina Moskvy-reki v I tys. do n. e. – I tys. n. e. (Dyakovo settlement: culture of the population of the Moskva River basin in the 1st millennium BC. – I millennium AD). Moscow: IA RAN (Publ.), 2011. 546 p. (in Russ.)

26. Krenke N.A., Kazansky M., Lopatin N.V., Ganichev K., Ershov I.N., Ershova E., Modestov F.E., and Raeva V.A. Gorodishcha Demidovka i Vyazoven’ki na Smolenshchine: ob ierarkhii, khronologii i kulʼturnoi atributsii (Settlements of Demidovka and Vyazovenki in the Smolensk region: about hierarchy, chronology and cultural attribution). Rossiiskaya arkheologiya. 2021. Vol. 1. P. 140–159. (in Russ.). https://doi.org/10.31857/S086960630013711-1

27. Lopatina O.A. Keramika moskvoretskikh i okskikh pamyatnikov dʼyakovskoi kulʼtury kak istoricheskii istochnik (Ceramics of the Moskvoretsky and Oka monuments of the Dyakovo culture as a historical source). PhD thesis. Moscow: IA RAN (Publ.), 2019. 31 p. (in Russ.)

28. Magurran A.E. Measuring biological diversity. Blackwell Science Ltd. 2004. 272 p.

29. Masi A., Balossi Restelli F., Sabato D., Vignola C., and Sadori L. Timber exploitation during the 5th–3rd millennia BCE at Arslantepe (Malatya, Turkey): environmental constraints and cultural choices. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. 2018. Vol. 10. No. 2. P. 465– 483. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-017-0499-0

30. Mazei Yu., Tsyganov A., Bobrovsky M., Mazei N., Kupriyanov D., Gałka M., Rostanets D., Khazanova K., Stoiko T., Pastukhova Yu., Fatynina Yu., Komarov A., Babeshko K., Makarova A., Saldaev D., Zazovskaya E., Dobrovolskaya M., and Tiunov A. Peatland development, vegetation history, climate change and human activity in Valdai Uplands (Central European Russia) during the Holocene: A multi-proxy palaeoecological study. Diversity. 2020. Vol. 12. No 12. P. 462. https://doi.org/10.3390/d12120462

31. Moskal-del Hoyo M. Open canopy forests of the loess regions of southern Poland: A review based on wood charcoal assemblages from Neolithic and Bronze Age archaeological sites. Quaternary International. 2021. Vol. 593. P. 204–223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2020.11.013

32. Negassa W., Acksel A., Eckhardt K.U., Regier T., and Leinweber P. Soil organic matter characteristics in drained and rewetted peatlands of northern Germany: Chemi cal and spectroscopic analyses. Geoderma. 2019. Vol. 353. P. 468–481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2019.07.002

33. Nelle O., Robin V., and Talon B. Pedoanthracology: analysing soil charcoal to study Holocene palaeoenvironments. Quaternary International. 2013. Vol. 289. P. 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2012.11.024

34. Novák J., Kočárová R., Kočár P., and Abraham V. Longterm history of woodland under human impact, archaeoanthracological synthesis for lowlands in Czech Republic. Quaternary International. 2021. Vol. 593. P. 195–203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2020.10.054

35. Novenko E.Y., Volkova E.M., Nosova M.B., and Zuganova I.S. Late Glacial and Holocene landscape dynamics in the southern taiga zone of East European Plain according to pollen and macrofossil records from the Central Forest State Reserve (Valdai Hills, Russia). Quaternary International. 2009. Vol. 207. No. 1–2. P. 93–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2008.12.006

36. O’Donnell L. Woodland dynamics and use during the Bronze Age: New evidence from Irish archaeological charcoal. Holocene. 2017. Vol. 27. No. 8. P. 1078–1091. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683616683252

37. Ohlson M., Ellingsen V.M., del Olmo M.V., Lie M.H., Nybakken L., and Asplund J. Late-Holocene fire history as revealed by size, age and composition of the soil charcoal pool in neighbouring beech and spruce forest landscapes in SE Norway. Holocene. 2017. Vol. 27. No. 3. P. 397–403. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683616660174

38. Ramsey C.B. Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates. Radiocarbon. 2009. Vol. 51. No. 1. P. 337–360. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033822200033865

39. Reimer P.J., Bard E., Bayliss A., Beck J.W., Blackwell P.G., Bronk Ramsey C., Buck C.E., Cheng H., Edwards R.L., Friedrich M., Grootes P.M., Guilderson T.P., Haflidason H., Hajdas I., Hatté C., Heaton T.J., Hoffmann D.L., Hogg A.G., Hughen K.A., Kaiser K.F., Kromer B., Manning S.W., Niu M., Reimer W., Richards D.A., Scott E.M., Southon J.R., Staff R.A., Turney C.S.M., and van der Plicht J. IntCal13 and Marine13 radiocarbon age calibration curves, 0–50,000 Years cal BP. Radiocarbon. 2013. Vol. 55. P. 1869–1887. https://doi.org/10.2458/azu_js_rc.55.16947

40. Rubiales J.M., Hernández L., Romero F., and Sanz C. The use of forest resources in central Iberia during the Late Iron Age. Insights from the wood charcoal analysis of Pintia, a Vaccaean oppidum. Journal of Archaeological Science. 2011. Vol. 38. No. 1. P. 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2010.07.004

41. Ruiz-Giralt A., Bouchaud C., Salavert A., Lancelotti C., and D’andrea A.C. Human-woodland interactions during the Pre-Aksumite and Aksumite periods in northeastern Tigray, Ethiopia: insights from the wood charcoal analyses from Mezber and Ona Adi. Veg. Hist. Archaeobot. 2021. Vol. 30. No. 6. P. 713–728. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-021-00825-2

42. Saulnier M., Cunill Artigas R., Foumou L.F., Buscaino S., Métailié J.P., Galop D., and Py-Saragaglia V. A study of late Holocene local vegetation dynamics and responses to land use changes in an ancient charcoal making woodland in the central Pyrenees (Ariège, France), using pedoanthracology. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. 2020. Vol. 29. No. 2. P. 241–258. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-019-00740-7

43. Sedov S.N., Zazovskaya E.P., Bronnikova M.A., Kazdim A.A., and Rosov S.Y. Late Holocene man-induced environmental change in central Russian plain: paleopedological evidences from early-medieval archaeological site. Chinese Science Bulletin. 1999. Vol. 44. P. 159.

44. Smirnov A.L., Menshikov M.Yu., Bobrovsky M.V., Kupriyanov D.A., Kleshchenko E.A., Svirkina N.G., Tiunov A.V., and Dobrovolskaya M.V. Rasselenie i istoricheskie landshafty na zapade Valdaya v rannem zheleznom veke i srednevekov’e (Settlement and historical landscapes in the west of Valdai in the early Iron Age and the Middle Ages). Rossiiskaya arkheologiya. 2021. Vol. 3. P. 80–96. (in Russ.). https://doi.org/10.31857/S086960630013168-3

45. Smirnova O.V., Bobrovsky M.V., and Khanina L.G. (Eds.) European Russian Forests. Their Current State and Features of Their History. Springer Netherlands, 2017. 566 p.

46. Syrovatko A.S. Yugo-vostochnoe Podmoskovʼe v zheleznom veke: k kharakteristike lokalʼnykh variantov dʼyakovskoi kulʼtury (South-Eastern Moscow Region in the Iron Age: to the Characteristics of Local Variants of the Dyakovo Culture). Moscow: CheBuk (Publ.), 2009. P. 28–35. (in Russ.)

47. Syrovatko A.S., Panin A.V., Troshina A.A., and Semenyak N.S. Rolʼ paleotopografii i landshaftno-klimaticheskikh izmenenii v formirovanii Shchurovskogo arkheologicheskogo kompleksa (The role of paleotopography and landscape-climatic changes in the formation of the Shchurovsky archaeological complex). Arkheologiya Podmoskovya. 2016. Vol. 12. P. 53–63. (in Russ.)

48. Talon B., Payette S., Filion L., and Delwaide A. Reconstruction of the long-term fire history of an old-growth deciduous forest in Southern Québec, Canada, from charred wood in mineral soils. Quaternary Research. 2005. Vol. 64. P. 36–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2005.03.003

49. Théry-Parisot I., Chabal L., and Chrzavzez J. Anthracology and taphonomy, from wood gathering to charcoal analysis. A review of the taphonomic processes modifying charcoal assemblages, in archaeological contexts. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 2010. Vol. 291. No. 1–2. P. 142–153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2009.09.016

50. Tolksdorf J.F., Kaiser K., Petr L., Herbig C., Kočár P., Heinrich S., Wilke F.D.H., Theuerkauf M., Fülling A., Schubert M., Schröder F., Křivánek R., Schulz L., Bonhage A., and Hemker C. Past human impact in a mountain forest: geoarchaeology of a medieval glass production and charcoal hearth site in the Erzgebirge, Germany. Regional Environmental Change. 2020. Vol. 20. No. 3. P. 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-020-01638-1

51. Trofimov S.Y., Yakimenko O.S., Sedov S.N., Dorofeeva E.I., Gorshkova E.I., Zazovskaya E.P., Dorofeeva E.I., Oleinik S.A., Gorshkova E.I., and Demin V.V. Composition and properties of organic matter in the soils of ancient Slavic settlements in the forest zone. Eurasian Soil Science. 2004. Vol. 37. No. 9. P. 927–936.

52. Uspensky P.S. and Chaukin S.N. Areal gorodishch dʼyakova tipa (The area of hillforts of the Dyakov type). Kratkie soobshcheniya Instituta arkheologii. 2016. Vol. 242. P. 71–80. (in Russ.)

53. Veksler A.G. and Gusakov M.G. K voprosu pozdnei stadii Dʼyakovskoi kulʼtury (To the question of the late stage of the Dyakovo culture). Arkheologiya Evraziiskikh stepei. 2017. Vol. 4. P. 257–286 (in Russ.).

54. Wiedner K., Schneeweiß J., Dippold M.A., and Glaser B. Anthropogenic dark earth in northern Germany – The nordic analogue to terra preta de indio in Amazonia. Catena. 2015. Vol. 132. P. 114–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2014.10.024