Palynological research in the Tobolsk Irtysh region

Palynological studies at archeological sites of the Tobolsk Irtysh region have become an active subject of research relatively recently. Paleobotanical samples from the Yarkovsky 1 and Vakhrushevo 1 settlements, studied in 2016, provided additional arguments in favor of the presence of arable farming practiced by the Medieval population. When the cultural layer in the city of Tobolsk was studied for establishing the conditions of urban environment, there was a need to use palynological data. The evidence of archaeological studies conducted in 2017 in the upper historical part of Tobolsk, became the basis for research aimed at clarifying the composition of plant communities which existed on the right bank rock terrace of the Tobolsk natural ground from 1587 until the first quarter of the 18th century. The article presents the results of palynological studies into the cultural layer of Tobolsk. In addition, the samples taken from the cultural layer were compared with samples from the sterile buried paleosol. The time when the paleosol started to be formed was the Atlantic period of the Holocene. In total, four samples were taken from soil horizons. The dynamics of the development of plant communities on Cape Troitsky revealed pine-birch forests with admixture of broad-leaved species starting from the seventh millennium BC. By the time when Tobolsk was founded (1587), the structure of plant communities had not fundamentally changed. By the first quarter of the 17th century, an increase in the share of pine and spruce can be observed, while the share of birch became significantly reduced. The pollen of the Cichorioideae reveals a notable anthropogenic component.