Abstract: We present a detailed description of the stratigraphy of Pleistocene deposits in the East Chamber of Denisova Cave, northwestern Altai, with regard to climate. Based on the taphonomic and morphological analysis of pollen from those deposits, over 140 taxa of higher plants were identified. A comparative analysis of modern tree and shrub vegetation in the Upper Anuy valley and that reconstructed from remains in the East Chamber reveals a much greater diversity of Pleistocene formations. Environmental changes around Denisova Cave over the past 300 thousand years are assessed. Boundaries and paleogeographic characteristics of certain stages are specifi ed, climatic and phytocenotic successions of warm and cold intervals are revealed, and specifi c features of periglacial fl ora and vegetation аre described. Based on changes in the qualitative and quantitative composition of pollen spectra from lithological units 17.1–9, 32 zones are described, including three groups with spectra typical of relatively warm periods such as Tobol, Shirta, and Kazantsevo interglacials of Western Siberia. The pollen zone relating to the Karga interstadial includes fi ve spectra of an interstadial type and one also typical of interglacials, with the predominance of oak, lime, ash, alder, and hazel. Four groups of pollen zones, represented by periglacial spectra, indicate cold stages, specifi cally Samara, Taz, Yermakovo, and Sartan.

Cite: Bolikhovskaya N.S. , Shunkov M.V.
A Climatic Stratigraphy of Pleistocene Deposits in the East Chamber of Denisova Cave
Archaeology Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia. 2026. V.54. N1. P.3-15. DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2026.54.1.003-015 РИНЦ publication_identifier_short.edn_identifier_type

Identifiers:

≡ Elibrary:	90853578
≡ publication_identifier.edn_identifier_type:	AJWEPM

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