Did Holocene climate drive subsistence economies in the East-European forest-steppe? Case study Omelchenki, Kharkiv region, Ukraine

Climate is often considered a primary driver of important historical events and its role is crucial for the existence of sedentary cultures at the ecological borders of agriculture such as the East-European forest -steppe. We investigate how the forest-steppe vegetation and climate changes impacted societies through time and vice versa the role of the human impact on the southern border of the ecotone. For this, we obtained a sediment core from a mire next to the village of Omelchenki in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine, covering the last similar to 9800 yrs for multi-proxy analysis including pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, macro -remains, loss-on-ignition, macro-and micro-charcoal, and applied a modern analogue technique to the pollen data to reconstruct forest cover. In the first half of the Holocene the fluctuations of the southern tree line correspond with the changes of the cultures with forager economies. The mid-Holocene spread of steppe promoted stock breeding as a basis of the Copper Age cultures' economy. The early late -Holocene increase in available moisture and the following forest spread contributed to the transition from nomadism to farming. Sufficient moisture attributed to the forest spread allowed the cultures' agricultural success. We conclude that the Holocene climate and environmental changes supported the changes in subsistence bases throughout the Holocene. Our data highlight a high sensitivity of forests in their southern limits to anthropogenic pressure, which emphasizes the possibility of their potential spread further south. However, considering the current global warming the southern tree line is likely to shift northwards bringing the area to the mid-Holocene conditions increasing risks for agriculture. Key words: vegetation history; fire history; palynology; charcoal; human impact; Holocene; Eastern Europe.(c) 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study explores the impact of climate change and human activity on the ecological border and societies. By analyzing sediment cores from a mire in Ukraine, it is found that fluctuations in the southern tree line correspond to changes in cultural economies. The spread of forests and increased moisture have contributed to the transition from nomadism to agriculture.