Holocene palaeoenvironmental dynamics of the Upper Kama Region (peat bogs case study)

This paper summarizes the results of long comprehensive studies of peat bog and oxbow lake deposits of the Upper Kama (Perm Krai). Palaeoecological (pollen and plant macrofossil), radiocarbon and archaeological methods were applied, and the 10.6 ka long palaeoenvironmental history was reconstructed. The results show that boreal smallleaved, light and dark coniferous forests predominated in the study area from the Early Holocene to the present, their dominance interrupted in the Middle Holocene by the spread of mixed coniferous-broad-leaved forests. The impact of ancient human activities on the Upper Kama natural environment (deforestation, pasturing, and agriculture) can be traced over the last four thousand years.