Late glacial time in Baltic Sea region: reindeer hunters colonizing the northern tundra deserts – the climate and landscape changes in space and time

• Main Authors: Burlakovs, Juris, Vincevica-Gaile, Zane, Krievans, Maris, Zarina, Liga, Celins, Ivars, Znudova, Liana, Rudovica, Vita
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Linnaeus University 2018
• Subjects: Northern Hemisphere; Baltic Sea Region; deglaciation; late glacial time; reindeer hunter people; inland dunes; Bering Land Bridge; Fennoscandia; Fennoscandian; Ice Sheet; Tundra
• Online Access: https://open.lnu.se/index.php/eco-tech/article/view/1530

Eurasian and North American continental glaciers reached Last Glacial Maximum around 21 kyr back. Lower sea level exposed Bering land bridge that opened human migration routes from Asia to North America. Large ice sheets blanketed much of the northern hemisphere. Northern Europe underwent significant ecological shifts at that time and later. Pleistocene–Holocene transition transformed also Baltic Sea Region, it was one of last colonized areas by Paleolithic societies. Periglacial environments with glacier retreat process made up deglaciated territories and during Younger Dryas and Preboreal time major shifts in climate happened whilst animals and plants adapted to new environments. Inland dunes were forming and sporadic eventual settlements of ancient reindeer hunters appeared near shorelines of rivers. Human colonization process is difficult to be assessed for that time due to sparse findings, fluctuations of sea level and natural processes that destroyed archaeological evidence, however geomorphological, paleobotanic and archaeological evidence has been studied for the region. Research of the Fennoscandian ice sheet retreat, deglaciation phases, ancient shores and following paleoecological processes of the Late Weichselian and Preboreal include modern analytical methods in combination with geomorphological studies. Thus it is possible to fill the gap of poor archaeological evidence through restoration of environmental situation. Modern humans first arrived and quickly spread across southern Europe c. 45–40,000 cal BP. Around 14-15 kyr back in history Southern Baltic region experienced the Hamburgian and Ahrensburgian traditions with remarkable site locations of archaeological findings, some of which are extended also in Scania and Denmark regions, however most part of Fennoscandia and Baltic remained under ice cover. Tremendous environmental transformations occurred during deglaciation phases when changes in plant andanimal communities occured, e.g., presence of reindeer herds became important for human ...