Postglacial floodplain development and Mesolithic–Neolithic occupation in the Russian forest zone

River valleys have always been attractive places for human occupation. The history of Mesolithic and Neolithic floodplain occupation is linked with archives of fluvial evolution, in particular the intricate relationships between palaeo-hydrological regimes, ecological development and sedimentary environments. This paper describes floodplain evolution in the Russian forest lowland around Moscow since the last deglaciation. Although there is an obvious climatic driving force for the initial fluvial incision at the end of the last glacial, there are many arguments pointing to complex intrinsic evolution involving successive pedogenesis, floodplain accumulation, flooding and fluvial incision from the beginning of the Holocene towards recent times. Increasing wetness during the early and middle Holocene forced people to move from the lowest parts of the valley towards its edges until ultimately, during the most severe flooding episode (at around 2600 years BP), they had to abandon the valley altogether.