Pages: 15-29 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp2121529

The article is devoted to the interaction with the environment of the Mahanjar Neolithic population of Turgai. As part of the study, the authors offer a reconstruction of the paleoclimatic conditions in the territory of the Turgai trough in the Neolithic era. They used the data obtained from the spore-pollen analysis of four peat bogs located in the region: Sukhoye Zaymishche, Mokhovoye, Naurzum and Shaitomar; paleoclimatic reconstructions of Siberia and Central Asia; palynological data of the Turgai trough; research by a group of scientists led by S. A. Guskov concerning the finds of the Aral-Caspian microfauna in the sediments of lakes in the south of Western Siberia. A reconstruction of livelihood of the Mahanjar Neolithic population of Turgai (economy, production of stone products, pottery, etc.) is offered. The article covers the results of isotope analysis of ceramics from the Bestamak settlement, in which mare’s milk lipids were recorded. The main conclusion of the work is the statement of the high level of adaptation of the Mahanjar population to the environment and climatic conditions of the Holocene of Turgai.

Keywords: Turgai, Neolithic, Mahanjar culture, paleoclimatic reconstruction, saiga, Przewalski’s horse, wool in ceramics, mare milk lipids

Information about authors:

Irina Shevnina (Kostanay, Kazakhstan). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Kostanay Regional University named after A. Baitursynov. Baitursynov St., 47, Kostanay, 110000, Kazakhstan
E-mail: [email protected]
Andrey Logvin (Kostanay, Kazakhstan). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Kostanay Regional University named after A. Baitursynov. Baitursynov St., 47, Kostanay, 110000, Kazakhstan
E-mail: [email protected]