ABOUT GEOECOLOGICAL SITUATION IN THE SELENGA RIVER BASIN(WESTERN TRANSBAIKALIA) IN THE PALAEOLITHIC

© 2019 N. P. Kalmykov¹·R. Ts. Budaev²·**
¹Southern Scientific Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences,
pr. Chekhova, 41, Rostov-on-Don, 344006 Russia
*E-mail: kalm@ssc-ras.ru
²Geological Institute, Siberian Division, Russian Academy of Siences,
ul. Sakh’yanovoi, 6а, Ulan-Ude, 670047 Russia
**E-mail: budrin@ginst.ru

The data are presented on the time of the first appearance of “prehistoric” humans in the Selenga River Basin, where human interaction with the natural environment took place during the cooling period, with its maximum registered in the end of the Pleistocene. It is shown that the changes in the relief were controlled by the activity of tectonic phases, one of which having caused the uprising of the Baikal Depression “shoulders” and the lowering of its bottom to the current depth. It has been noted that denudation and accumulation contributed to the formation of foothills and river terraces, inhabited by Palaeolithic humans. Stepwise climatic changes being non-antagonistic to the surrounding environment favoured the preservation of many species of the Pleistocene mammals, which nowadays compose the current teriofauna. The extinction of key mammals (Mammuthus, Coelodonta) is not attributed to the ancient human activities. The presented research results allow considering ancient humans being an integral component of geosystems, which influenced them indirectly by impacts though of a small force but long-acting and destabilizing their balance, i.e., extension of settlements and ancient residential landscapes.

Keywords: geosystem, ancient humans, Palaeolithic, climate, residential landscapes, fossil mammals, Selenga River.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.31857/S0869-78092019652-64

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