Changes in Soils and Relief of Floodplain of Upper Reaches of the Don River in Area of Settlements of the 16th–17th Centuries

Abstract

Reconstruction of landscapes of the Epifan expansion of the floodplain of the Don River for a narrow time slice, the time of existence of the Cossack settlements of the 16th–17th centuries, was carried out using a set of methods of geomorphology and pedology, involving archaeological, historical and paleogeographical materials. The conditions of the natural environment of that time were characterized by weak manifestations of floodplain regime, the lack of accumulation of alluvium, the formation in the floodplain of zonal soils (gray forest and Chernozem). As in previous stages of development (Bronze Age, 12th–14th centuries), at that time, long-term settlements could exist in the floodplain of the Don River. Natural changes of the landscape of the floodplain were connected mainly with changes of climate and location of the riverbed. The surface of the floodplain was relatively stable, the alluvium of the Middle and Late Holocene only in some places overlying soils is mostly found near the modern riverbed and oxbows. The composition of the vegetation mainly reflects the conditions of contemporary anthropogenic evolution of landscapes. The most striking signs of anthropogenic changes in the environment of the 16th–17th centuries were found in the structure and composition of soils of the floodplain in the area of settlements of that time (sloboda Melgunovo, etc.). It is discussed the possibility of their referring to soils of extreme environmental conditions.