Maklasheevka II Hillfort, Palynological Aspect

Abstract

The paper features the results of palynological studies obtained during the study of the rampart embankment of the Maklasheevka II hillfort. According to these studies, the pre-hillfort settlement of the Ananyino cultural and historical area, which arose in the second half of the 7th – first half of the 6th centuries BC, was surrounded by birch forests interspersed with open areas with herbs and cereals. This situation continued until the beginning of the construction of defensive structures in the 6th –5th centuries BC. In the 5th century BC, when the rampart was completed, coniferous and deciduous forests grew in the vicinity of the hillfort, which included pine, linden, and birch. Large areas remained free from the forest. The plant environment of Maklasheevka II hillfort during the Early Middle Ages, when the bearers of the Imenkovo culture settled at the hillfort, could not be determined, since the construction (last quarter of the 4th – first quarter of the 5th centuries AD) and completion (6th-7th centuries AD) of the rampart embankment were carried out from the soil of the lower soil horizons. In the post-Imenkovo period, the hillfort was abandoned, and semi-open areas with a predominance of forb-grass communities spread on its outskirts. The forests were small and consisted of pine and birch copses.

Keywords

• archaeology
• middle volga region
• early iron age
• early middle ages
• hillforts
• fortifications
• palynology