Reconstruction of the natural environment of the Western Caspian region in the second half of the Holocene and the adaptation patterns of the ancient population

Abstract

The article discusses the possibilities of using various geoarchaeological methods for a burial mound located in the Caspian Lowland. The investigated mound group “Bogomolnye Peski – 1” is a vivid example of a unique monument, since it was originally constructed during the Bronze Age (the first structure) and then completed in the Early Iron Age, and during the Middle Ages, it served as a burial site for nomadic tribes. The reconstruction of the natural environment of the Western Caspian region in the second half of the Holocene, as well as diet composition among the ancient population, are the result of the study of buried soils of different ages under the mound structure, palynological and micromorphological analysis, review of anthropological characteristics of bone remains in the main and inlet burials and analysis of the isotopic composition of bone