An Erratum to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1028334X23060168

Problems of the paleogeographical evolution and changes in sedimentation environment within the Indigirka River paleovalley (the East Siberian Sea) are discussed. Based on the results of geophysical and geological research and a high-resolution study of sediment cores (grain size analysis, geochemistry, macro- and micropaleontology, pollen analysis, radiocarbon dating) the development of the Holocene marine transgression has been reconstructed, sedimentation rates have been calculated, and the basic principles of changes in sedimentation processes have been established.

New data are presented on the geological sequence, composition, and genesis of Late Pleistocene–Holocene deposits in the southern part of the East Siberian Sea (Long Strait to Chaun Bay). Basic materials were collected during a marine geological expedition by the A.P. Karpinsky Russian Geological Research Institute (VSEGEI) carried out in 2018 for geological mapping of sheets R-56–R-60. Research included sub-bottom profiling, side-scan sonar survey and multibeam echo sounder, sediment sampling (box corer and gravity corer). Processing and interpretation of geophysical data and study of sediment cores, including layer-by-layer grain-size, geochemical, diatom, and palynological analysis, as well as radiocarbon dating, were used to update the knowledge on reconstruction of the geological development of the region and refine the palaeoclimatic and palaeogeographic characteristics of the natural environment in the Late Pleistocene–Holocene. During the Sartan Cooling within the off-shore study area, continental conditions prevailed, but no seafloor landforms or any sediments formed by glacial activity were found, since erosional processes dominated at that time. Sediments accumulated within shallow freshwater lakes (possibly thermokarst in origin), river valleys, and semienclosed lagoons. Since the end of Pleistocene, the sea level rose irregularly, as evidenced by characteristic seafloor landforms (longshore bars, underwater terraces, foredeltas, etc.). Holocene sedimentation is characterized by high facial diversity, low sedimentation rates, and weak sorting of sedimentary material.

The paleoclimatic events of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene have been clarified based on the results of detailed lithological, geochemical, pollen, and paleomagnetic studies of sediment cores collected in the eastern Gulf of Finland. The time frame of the change from lacustrine to marine sedimentation conditions has been refined based on the radiocarbon dating. For deposits of the marine phase of the Baltic Sea in the eastern Gulf of Finland, hypoxia cycles associated with periods of warming during the Holocene have been revealed.

Wax traces observed on historical documents have only recently become the object of systematic study. A new approach to their analysis is presented; methodological foundations of palynological research of candle wax drops found on the surface of sheets of ancient Russian manuscripts and books are described. The results of the study for the first time make it possible to use wax traces to obtain data on the geographical localization of places where the ancient Russian manuscript existed.

This article outlines the results of a multidisciplinary study of a strati fi ed Middle Paleolithic site Hadjoh-2, northwestern Caucasus, situated at the outcrop of high-quality Shahan fl int. During fi ve fi eld seasons, more than 6-meter deep deposits were excavated over an area of ca 33 sq. m. Ten lithological strata and four habitation horizons were identi fi ed. Excavations focused on the bottom layers 6 and 7. During their accumulation, the site occupied a fl oodplain terrace on the right bank of the Sredniy Hadjoh River, a right tributary of the Belaya. Because the terrace dates to the Middle/Late Pleistocene boundary, the site is no earlier than the beginning of Late Pleistocene, 130–120 ka BP. Results of pollen analysis suggest that the climate was cold and dry, and subalpine and alpine meadows prevailed around the site at that time. The study of lithic assemblages shows that the bottom layers accumulated when the site was a workshop near the fl int outcrops. In both layers, knapping debris such as cores, chips, and small fragments predominate. Most tools are un fi nished bifacial forms. These assemblages are paralleled by the Eastern Micoquian industries of Mezmaiskaya, Barakaevskaya, Monasheskaya, and Ilskaya.

We received results of complex palaeoecological research at south-west Barents Sea coast. In Periayarvi 1 settlement (Sredniy Peninsula) discovered by V. Ya. Shumkin in 1994, archeological excavations of two house-structures were performed. We sampled the sequence in the house-structure 16 date to the Early Metal Age and we studied it with archaeological, palynological, geochemical and radiocarbon methods. The sequence in the house-structure 16 settlement include sand layers in the bottom, the upper part consists of slightly decomposed peat. The radiocarbon data obtained from the charcoal sample from the fireplace in the middle of the house-structure is 2920±70 C14 BP, which correlates with result of pollen analysis. According ac to pollen data, the sequence formation started at the first half of the Subboreal period during the spread of tundra vegetation and then vegetation changed to forest tundra while the climate was getting more comfortable for humans. At the Subatlantic period tundra recovers because of temperature drop. The landscape is getting similar to the modern one. According geochemical indications main functional zones of house-structure were distinguished, and that provides necessary information about main characteristics of living conditions. The complex of methods allows to date Periayarvi 1 settlement to the Early Metal Age. In the results we made reconstruction of palaeoenvironmental conditions in the Late Holocene at the Barents Sea coast.