GIS-based Analysis of Settlement Patterns for the Central Baraba Lowland (western Siberia, Russia) in Relation to Climatic Conditions of the Middle – Late Holocene

An analysis of settlement patterns for the cultural complexes of Eneolithic – Middle Ages in the central Baraba Lowland (Western Siberia) is presented. GIS technologies were employed to understand the spatiotemporal features for different cultural stages, with their particular kinds of economy. Geomorphological positions of 92 selected habitation sites, consisting of 101 cultural layers, were identified. The morphometric parameters and the Geomorphological Index invented by the author were calculated for each site. The general paleoclimatic trend was established in accordance with data obtained from a sediment core of the Lake Bolshye Toroki. The sites with common spatial features are combined into four groups according to their geomorphological position, morphometric parameters, and the GeoInd values. Localization of sites belonging to these groups is connected to climate of the region in the Middle – Late Holocene, and environmental conditions (mainly the amount of precipitation and landscape types) to some extent determined the choice of ancient humans to select places for settlements. Dry conditions are observed for the Eneolithic – early Bronze Age (Ust-Tartas and Bairyk Cultures). There was an alternation of dry and moderate conditions for the early – middle Bronze Age (Odino and Krotovo cultural complexes) and the late Bronze Age (Irmen complex). During the Andronovo occupation (the middle Bronze Age), the climate was dry. Moderate and wet conditions were typical for the Bolshaya Rechka and Sargat complexes (the Early Iron Age) as well as the Baraba Tatars Culture (the middle – late Medieval periods). The wettest conditions (alternation of wet and very wet conditions) correspond to the end of the Early Iron Age and early Middle Ages (Potchevash Culture).