PALEOGEOGRAPHY OF KOSTENKI-14 (MARKINA GORA)

Multidisciplinary geological and paleogeographical studies have demonstrated that the so-called humus strata in the deluvial apron of Kostenki-14 are paleosols of various origins. It has been shown that cryogenic deformations in the section were mainly caused by block displacements of the entire sequence rather than by solifluction. At the time corresponding to the earliest cultural layer IVb (ca 37–36 ka BP), a flat linear hollow with a brook at the bottom existed where currently the steep, convex slope (“promontory”) of Markina Gora exists. The early stage of the site's existence (second half of the Middle Valdai megainterstadial) was marked by a mild climate, causing the spread of coniferous and broadleaved forests. Layer IVa (ca 33 ka BP) can be correlated with the beginning of cooling, when spruce forests still existed. At the end of the megainterstadial, the landscapes around the site varied from periglacial to tundra and forest-tundra. Layer I (ca 22 ka BP) correlates with the most severe cryoarid conditions of the pleniglacial.