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Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop, held in St. Petersburg, 15-18 November 2003.
The themes of the book focus on the origin, development, interactions, and migrations of the Scythians, in Eurasia and their relationships with the environment of 1st millennium BC. Without doubt, the environment played an important role in the life of ancient nomadic populations, forming the basis of their economies and influencing various aspects of their mode of life.
The main focus is on the huge landmass of Eurasia where apart from global-scale environmental changes, local environmental change, including the physical landscape of forest, steppe, forest-steppe and so on changed. During the 1st millennium BC, important cultural processes occurred throughout the steppe belt, which eventually resulted in the emergence of "Scythian-type" cultures. The Scythian sites have been investigated since the 18th century, resulting in the discovery of outstanding archaeological assemblages and works of art which are displayed in the best museums of the world. Numerous puzzles relating to the Scythians' origins, interactions, migrations and their detailed chronology are discussed and new data presented.
Preface.- Section 1: Archaeology Chronology and cultural affinity of the kurgan Arzhan-2 complex according to archaeological data; Some chronological problems of European Scythia: archaeology and radiocarbon; Migrations of early nomads of the Eurasian steppe in the context of climatic changes; The northern Black Sea steppes in the Cimmerian epoch.- Section 2: Chronology Radiocarbon, the calibration curve and Scythian chronology; The occupation history of the southern Eurasian steppe during the Holocene: chronology, the calibration curve and methodological problems of the Scythian chronology; 14C dating of the Siberian Steppe Zone from Bronze Age to Scythian time; North-west Caspian Sea steppe: environment and migration crossroads of pastoral culture population during the third millennium BC; Chronology of Pazyryk 2 and Ulandryk 4 kurgans based on high resolution radiocarbon dating and dendrochronology - a step towards more precise dating of Scythian burials; Problems of construction of a radiocarbon chronology for the time period 9OO3OO calBC; Possibilities and limitations of the use of stable isotopes (13C and 15N)from human bone collagen and carbonate as an aid in migration studies; OSL dating in Archaeology.- Section 3: Environmental Study The Sun, climate change and the expansion of the Scythian culture after 850 BC; Large-scale periodicity of climate change during the Holocene; Archaeological and ethnographic toxins in museum collections; Changes in palaeoenvironment and human migrations in the centre of the russian plain; Environmental changes of the north-eastern Black Sea?s coastal region during the middle and late Holocene; Prehistoric Environment, human migrations and origins of pastoralism in northern Eurasia; Environmental study of the Bronze-Iron Age transition period of Eastern Europe; Applications of geochemistry to paleoenvironmental reconstructions in southern Siberia; Pollen and plant macroremain analyses for the reconstruction of environmental changes in the early Metal period; Mid to late Holocene climate change and its influence on cultural development in south Central Siberia; Archaeological cultures on the background of climatic changes the Holocene, Poland; Horse remains from the Arzhan-1 and Arzhan-2 Scythian monuments.
