Landscape-and-climate dynamics and land use in Late Holocene forest-steppe ecotone of East European Plain (upper Don River Basin case study)

Results of lithological and palynological data of key sequences of the forest-steppe region in the Upper Don River basin, notably, the Kulikovo Battle-Field area, are presented. The obtained evidence shows the occurrence of open forest-steppe and steppe landscape in the Late Holocene. Climate reconstructions failed to demonstrate any drastic changes in the second half of the Holocene. However, even small reductions in annual precipitation, from 400 to 500 mm in the Atlantic, to 300–400 mm in the Subboreal period, accompanied by the rise of summer temperature, from 20–22 °C to 22–24 °C, respectively, were sufficient to cause landscape changes from the forest-steppe to typical steppe. The paper discusses various aspects of human impact on the landscape.