Environmental and climatic conditions of human occupation in the central East European Plain during the Middle Holocene: Reconstruction from palaeofloristic data

Paleobotanical assemblages from peat, lake, and archaeological deposits reveal that during the Middle Holocene (MH; ca. 9.0 to 4.7 kyr BP), the central East European Plain was occupied by highly productive and diverse mixed-oak forests, along with mire, meadow, and riverine communities. Climatic reconstructions based on modern analogues of fossil pollen and plant macrofossil assemblages indicate that throughout the MH mean annual precipitation was at near-present levels (similar to 600 mm) and July temperatures were similar to those of today (similar to 17 degrees C). However, differences in the Fossil Floras (FFs) suggest changes in winter conditions though the MH, with January temperatures higher than the present-day value of -10 degrees C by 2 degrees C in the Early Atlantic (FF1), 6 degrees C in the Middle Atlantic (FF2), and 3 degrees C in the Late Atlantic-Early Subboreal (FF3). The annual frost-free period was 15 days longer than today in the Early Atlantic, about one month longer in the Late Atlantic, and became close to present by the beginning of the Subboreal. The combination of warm winters with diverse and productive vegetation communities provided an environment that was more hospitable than that of today for Late Mesolithic and Neolithic societies.