#1Geoarchaeological study of big Essentuksky 1 kurgan in Ciscaucasia, Russia Olga Khokhlova, Alena Sverchkova ELBRUS Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems of Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino, Moscow region, Russian Federation. E-mail: [email protected] This study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project no. 16-17-10280 CC BY#2Ukraine Black Sea nogle Essentuki ogle Georgia Caspian Sea Azerbaijan Armenia Turkey Google Imagery ©2018 Data SIO, NOAA, U.S. Navy, NGA, GEBCO, Landsat / Copernicus, Map data ©2018 GeoBasis-DE/BKG (2009), Google, Mapa GISrael Russia Terms In 2017-18 the security and rescue excavations of big kurgan Essentuksky 1 were carried out by the archaeological expedition of "Heritage" Co Ltd under the leadership of archaeologist Kalmykov A.A. This kurgan was located on the northern outskirts of Essentuki-city, Stavropol Territory, between the private houses on the Atamanskaya street. Paleopedological study of this kurgan was conducted in June 2018. Moldova ул. Трощева Ulitsa Troshcheva ул. Трощево Atamanskaya Ulitsa Атаманская ул. Atamanskaya Ulitsa 3D Google Imagery ©2018 DigitalGlobe, Map data ©2018 Google Russia Terms Send feedback 20 m Suvorovskaya Суворовская A157 Send feedback 200 km L -Минеральные Воды 3D OBOL Zheleznovodsk Zmeyka Железноводск Змейка Lermontov Georgiyevsk Георгиевск A157 Лермонтов Inozemtsevo Lysogorskaya Лысогорская Иноземцево Lssentuki "Ессентуки Podkumok Подкумок Kislovodsk Кисловодск Vysokogornyy Высокогорный Kichi-Balyk Кичи-Балык Pyatigorsk Пятигорск Yutsa Юца Belokamenskoye Белокаменское Kichmalka Кичмалка Kor Kom Zolka Pyatigorskiy Пятигорский Золка Zalukokoazhe Залукокоаже Zalukodes Залукодес Marinske Марьинск 3D Malka Малка Kamlyukovo Камлюково Kuba-Taba Куба-Таба Sarmakovo 2 Terms Send feedback 10 km L Google Kamennomostskoye "Сармаково Imagery ©2018 Landsat / Copernicus, Map data ©2018 Google Russia CC 0 BY#3The height of the Essentuksky 1 kurgan was 5.5-6 m and diameter - more than 60 m. According to archaeological data and radiocarbon dating, the kurgan was built by people of the Maikop culture in the second quarter of the 4th millennium BC for some decades, i.e., very quickly. CC ④ BY#44ec 5sc 6sc robbery pit Зес 3ec 2ec 1ec 2ec 4ec lec The kurgan had four earthen constructions (1ec-4ec) and three - made of stones (5sc-7sc). All stones in the kurgan were fastened by earthen cement. At the center, there was a robbery pit which destroyed the kurgan. Soil pits were dug under first, second, third and forth earthen constructions (Es1b, Es2b, Es3b and Es4b, respectively). The surface soil on the area adjoining to the kurgan was also studied (Es5m) 01 7sc CC ④ BY 5sc 6sc Ec2n-18 Ec3n-18 Ec1n-18 Ec4n-18 Ec5-18 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 Es3b 10 11 12 13 14 Es1b Es2b Es4b Es5m 15 16 E17 18 19#5Results We studied the composition of the material of kurgan's earthen constructions (EC) and cements of stone constructions (SC). In direction from the first to the fourth ECs, the content of organic carbon decreases and carbonate carbon, magnetic susceptibility, LOI (loss of ignition) increases. C C Magnetic organic carbonat susceptibility, Kurgan construction Fraction <0.01 mm, % Fraction <0.001 LOI, % mm, % % , e, % 10-8 units SI First EC 65.0-67.1 35.8-36.8 1.3-1.4 1.3-1.6 45-50 12.9-13.3 Second EC 59.1-62.5 29.4-31.7 1.0-1.3 1.4-1.8 43-45 12.0-13.3 Third EC 57.6-66.5 25.2-29.2 0.9-1.3 1.1-2.1 56-67 11.7-13.9 Fourth EC 62.1-67.6 30.2-37.5 Fifth SC cement 64.1 33.3 1.1 0.7-0.9 2.1-2.5 2.1 66-81 13.8-15.4 68 14.4 Sixth SC cement 64.4-66.6 33.0-36.1 1.1-1.4 2.7-2.7 88-89 16.9-17.1 Seventh SC-cement 65.4-66.8 35.3-37.0 1.1-1.2 1.6-2.3 78-87 12.2-15.0 The cement of SCs is characterized by comparatively high content of organic and carbonate carbon, high values of magnetic susceptibility and LOI. There are the higher amounts of particle size fractions <0.01 and <0.001 mm in the cements of SCs as compared with the material of ECs. CC i BY#6Pits: Es1b, Es2b, Es3b Es4b 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 % Es5m 0 a 10 10 Ahkb AhBkb 30 Ahkb + AhBkb Ahk + AhBk 50 70 90 110 Blkb Blkb Blk 130 B2kb B2kb 0 B2k 150 170 BCkb BCkb BCk 190 フ CM 123456 20 20 Depth, cm 40 40 60 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 Organic carbon 0 20 20 40 60 1 - carbonate pseudomycelium, 2 - white soft carbonate spots, 3 - carbonate impregnation, 4- gypsum veins, 5 – animal holes, 6 – the depth of appearance of carbonate pedofeatures 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 % 1.2% b a Carbonate 1.0 carbon 0.8 SO4 of gypsum 0.6 80 0.4 100 120 20 0.2 140 0.0 16660 180 200 100-120 120-140 140-160 160-180 | 180-200 100-120 | 120-140 140-160 160-180 180-200 100-120 120-140 100-120 120-140 140-160 160-180 80-200 12 100-120 120-140 140-160 160-180 | 180-200 3 - 200 4-5 During the interval of kurgan construction, the morphological and physicochemical properties of soils changed. There is a decrease in intensity of the black color of the humus horizon and the content of organic carbon within the first 50 cm of profile, an increase in the content of gypsum, carbon of carbonates, a shift of the area of their accumulation up the profile, and transformation of the forms of carbonate pedofeatures. 5 Soil pits: 1 – Es1b, 2 – Es2b, 3 – Es3b, 4 - Es4b, 5 – Es5m CC BY Depth, cm#7Exchangeable bases 60 70 80 90 100 00 60 70 80 90 ➢ རྞ ཞ ➢ རྞ ནྲྀ ཎྜ ༔ 200 10 GS10 30 田 30 50 Eslb-18 H E Es2b-18 70 70 90 90 120 160 120 160 Depth, cm Depth, cm 100 60 70 10 30 50 70 90 120 Mongoo 200 Ca Mg Na K 60 70 80 90 10 30 50 Es4b-18 70 90 120 160 200 80 50 Es3b-18 90 0 100 % 100 10 units SI 90 90 80 90 100 % 80 100 60 70 10 30 50 Es5s-18 70 90 120 160 200 70 70 660 50 10 40 30 30 CC BY Magnetic susceptibility 56.3 52 71 67.6 92.5 The percentage of the exchangeable sodium and magnesium in the composition of exchangeable bases increased and the magnetic susceptibility decreased. 20 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 The most "arid" properties are found in the paleosol buried last in the studied pedo- chrono-sequence (pit Es4b): the color of the humus horizon is the lightest, the profile is most enriched in carbonates, there is the highest content of exchangeable sodium and magnesium in the composition of exchangeable bases, the lowest magnetic susceptibility and the maximum amount of gypsum in the second meter of the profile. During the indicated time-span of the kurgan construction, Haplic Chernozems Loamic (soils under the first, second and third kurgan constructions) evolved to Calcic Chernozems Loamic (soil under the fourth kurgan construction).#8Samples Es5m-18 Es4b-18 Es2b-18 Es1b-18 Woody plants 50% Herbaceous plants Spores Palynological analysis Eph LX Lrx b For the studied time interval of the kurgan construction, a palynological analysis revealed a decrease in forest area and an increase in the portion of herbaceous plants; in the composition of herbs, there was an increase in the proportion of steppe and xerophytic species (palynological zone II b). CC 0 BY || a | Palynological zones#91 2 3 4 Depth, cm Es-1b, Es-2b, Es-3b Ahkb AhBkb Blkb Es-4b Es-5s Ahkb AhBkb Ahkb AhBkb 0 Blkb Blkb B2kb B2kb BCkb B2kb BCkb BCkb 0 Carbonate pseudomycelium White soft carbonate spots Carbonate impregnation Gypsum veins Animal holes Depth of segregated carbonate pedofeatures appearance Pedogenetic proxies of climatic trends during the studied time interval at the early Bronze Age include: ❖1) enrichment of the upper horizons in organic carbon; ❖2) calcification and salinization (an upward migration of carbonates and gypsum); 3) alkalinization (the share of exchangeable Na in CEC); ❖4) bioturbation (cf. Figure). a b с CC 0 BY#10Conclusions The climate of the studied interval (the beginning of development of the Maikop culture in the Ciscaucasia, Russia) is characterized as drier and hotter in comparison with that for nowadays. АЭН-2017 KYPгAH ECCEHTYKC.1 PK1 The material for the earthen layers of the kurgan's constructions was taken from the Ah and AhB horizons of the buried Chernozems. The morphological and analytical properties of the layers from the kurgan earthen constructions show the same changes as those for the buried paleosols. CC 0#11Thank you for attention! 3 CC BY 00