Геоэкология. Инженерная геология. Гидрогеология. ГеокриологияГеоэкология. Инженерная геология. Гидрогеология. Геокриология0869-7809The Russian Academy of Sciences1881410.31857/S0869-78092019652-64Research ArticleAbout geoecological situation in the Selenga river basin (Western Transbaikalia) in the PalaeolithicKalmykovN. P.kalm@ssc-ras.ruBudaevR. Ts.budrin@ginst.ruSouthern Scientific Centre, Russian Academy of SciencesGeological Institute, Siberian Division, Russian Academy of Siences21122019652642112201921122019Copyright © 2019, Russian academy of sciences2019<p>The data are presented on the time of the first appearance of prehistoric humans in the Selenga River Basin, where human interaction with the natural environment took place during the cooling period, with its maximum registered in the end of the Pleistocene. It is shown that the changes in the relief were controlled by the activity of tectonic phases, one of which having caused the uprising of the Baikal Depression shoulders and the lowering of its bottom to the current depth. It has been noted that denudation and accumulation contributed to the formation of foothills and river terraces, inhabited by Palaeolithic humans. Stepwise climatic changes being non-antagonistic to the surrounding environment favoured the preservation of many species of the Pleistocene mammals, which nowadays compose the current teriofauna. The extinction of key mammals (<em>Mammuthus, Coelodonta</em>) is not attributed to the ancient human activities. The presented research results allow considering ancient humans being an integral component of geosystems, which influenced them indirectly by impacts though of a small force but long-acting and destabilizing their balance, i.e., extension of settlements and ancient residential landscapes.</p>geosystemancient humansPalaeolithicclimateresidential landscapesfossil mammalsSelenga Riverгеосистемадревний человекпалеолитклиматселитебные ландшафтыископаемые млекопитающиерека Селенга[Bazarov, D.B. Kainozoi Pribaykal'ya i Zapadnogo Zabaykal'ya [Cenozoic of the Baikal region and Western Transbaikalia]. Novosibirsk, Nauka Publ., 1986, 182 p. (in Russian)][Bazarov, D.B., Konstantinov, M.V., Imetkhenov, A.B., Bazarova, L.D., Savinova, V.V. Geologiya i kul'tura drevnikh poselenii Zapadnogo Zabaykal'ya [Geology and culture of ancient settlements of Western Transbaikalia]. Novosibirsk, Nauka Publ., 1982. 164 p. (in Russian)][Belova, V.A. Rastitel'nost' i klimat pozdnego kainozoya yuga Vostochnoi Sibiri [The vegetation and climate of the late Cenozoic in the south of Eastern Siberia]. Novosibirsk, Nauka Publ., 1985, 160 p. (in Russian)][Budyko, M.I. Klimat i zhizn' [Climate and life]. Leningrad, 1971, 472 p. (in Russian)][Devyatkin, E.V. Meridional'nyi analiz ekosistem pleistotsena Azii (osnovnye problemy) [Meridional analysis of the Pleistocene ecosystem in Asia (the main problems)]. Stratigrafiya. Geologicheskaya korrelyatsiya, 1993, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 77-83. (in Russian)][Devyatkin, E.V., Malaeva, E.M., Zazhigin, V.S., Murzaeva, V.E. Posdnii kainozoi Mongolii (stratigrafiya i paleogeografiya) [Late Cenozoic of Mongolia (stratigraphy and paleogeography)]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1989, 214 p. (in Russian).][Devyatkin, E.V., Malaeva, E.M. [About climatostratigraphy of glacial and interglacial regions of Siberia and Northern Mongolia]. Paleogeografiya i biostratigrafiya pliotsena i antropogena [Paleogeography and biostratigraphy of the Pliocene and Anthropogenic period]. Moscow, 1991, pp. 69-71. (in Russian)][Derevyanko, A.P., Dorzh, D., Vasil'yevskii, R.S., Larichev, V.E., Petrin, V.T., Devyatkin, E.V., Malaeva E.V. Kamennyi vek Mongolii: Paleolit i neolit Mongol'skogo Altaya [The Stone Age of Mongolia: Paleolithic and the Neolithic of the Mongolian Altai]. Novosibirsk, Nauka Publ., 1990, 646 p. (in Russian).][Ermolova, N.M. Teriofauna doliny Angary v pozdnem antropogene [Teriofauna of the Angara River valley in the Late Anthropogenic period]. Novosibirsk, Nauka Publ., 1978, 224 p. (in Russian).][Imetkhenov, A.B. Pozdnekainozoiskie otlozheniya poberezh'ya ozera Baykal [Late Cenozoic sediments of the coast of the Lake Baikal]. Novosibirsk, Nauka Publ., 1987. 152 p. (in Russian)][Imetkhenov, A.B. Priroda perekhodnoi zony na primere Baikal'skogo regiona [The nature of the transition zone by the example of the Baikal region]. Novosibirsk, SD RAS Publ., 1997, 232 p. (in Russian)][Kalmykov, N.P. Paleogeografiya i evolyutsiya biotsenoticheskogo pokrova v basseine oz. Baikal [Paleogeography and the evolution of the biocenotic cover in the basin of Lake Baikal]. Rostov-on-Don, Rostov State University Publ., 2003, 240 p. (in Russian).][Kalmykov, N.P. Mestonakhozhdenie Udunga (Zapadnoe Zabaykal'ye, Rossiya): geologiya i fauna mlekopitayushchikh rannego pliotsena [Location of Udunga (Western Transbaikalia, Russia): geology and fauna of mammals of the Early Pliocene]. Otechestvennaya geologiya, 2017, no. 2, pp. 76-82. (in Russian)][Kalmykov, N.P., Kobylkin, D.V. [The appearance of humans in the Pliocene of Western Transbaikalia: Pros and Cons]. Paleogeografiya kamennogo veka [Paleogeography of the Stone Age]. Krasnoyarsk, 2000, pp. 34-35. (in Russian)][Kalmykov, N.P., Malaeva, E.M. Kontinental'naya biota nizhnego pliotsena Zapadnogo Zabaykal'ya [Continental biota of the Lower Pliocene of Western Transbaikalia]. Doklady Akademii nauk, 1994, vol. 339, no. 6, pp. 785-788. (in Russian)][Kovda, V.A. [Biogeochemical cycles in nature and their violation by a man]. Biogeokhimicheskiye tsikly v biosfere [Biogeochemical cycles in the biosphere]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1976, pp. 19-35. (in Russian)][Konstantinov, A.V. Drevnie zhilishcha Zabaykal'ya (paleolit, mezolit) [Ancient dwellings of the Transbaikalia (Paleolithic, Mesolithic)]. Novosibirsk, Nauka Publ., 2001, 224 p. (in Russian).][Konstantinov, M.V. Kamennyi vek vostochnoi provintsii Baikal'skoi Azii [Stone Age of the eastern part of Baikal Asia]. Ulan-Ude–Chita, 1994, 179 p. (in Russian).][Kuz'min Ya.V., Kazanskii, A.Yu. Diskussionnye voprosy zaseleniya Sibiri drevnim chelovekom [Debatable questions of Siberia settlement by early humans]. Stratigrafiya. Geologicheskaya korrelyatsiya, 2015, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 121-126. (in Russian)][Lazukov, G.I., Gvozdover, M.D., Roginskii, Ya.Ya., Uryson, M.I., Kharitonov, V.M., Yakimov, V.P. Priroda i drevnii chelovek [Nature and the ancient man]. Moscow, Mysl' Publ., 1981, 220 p. (in Russian).][Lbova, L.V. Paleolit severnoi zony Zapadnogo Zabaikal'ya [Paleolithic of the northern zone of the Western Transbaikalia]. Ulan-Ude, BSC SB RAS Publ., 2000, 240 p. (in Russian)][Lbova, L.V. Rannie etapy osvoeniya chelovekom Zabaikal'ya (novye materialy) [Early stages of human development of Transbaikalia (new materials)]. Izv. Laboratorii drevnikh tekhnokogiy UrGTU, 2005, issue 3, pp. 60-73. (in Russian).][Lbova, L.V., Rezanov, I.N., Kalmykov, N.P., Kolomiyets, V.L. Prirodnaya sreda i chelovek v neopleistotsene (Zapadnoe Zabaikal'ye i Yugo-Vostochnoye Pribaykal'e) [Natural environment and a man in the Neo-Pleistocene (Western Transbaikalia and South-Eastern Baikal region)]. Ulan-Ude, BSC SB RAS Publ., 2003, 208 p. (in Russian)][Lbova, L.V., Khamzina, E.A. Drevnosti Buryatii: Karta arkheologicheskikh pamyatnikov [Antiquities of Buryatia: Map of archaeological monuments]. Ulan-Ude, BSC SB RAS Publ., 1999, 241 p. (in Russian)][Leonova, N.B., Nesmeyanov, S.A., Vinogradova Ye.A., Voeikova, O.A., Gvozdover, M.D., Min'kov, Ye.V., Spiridonova, Ye.A., Sycheva, S.A. Paleoekologiya ravninnogo paleolita [Paleoecology of the plain Paleolithic]. Moscow, Nauchnyi mir Publ., 2006, 360 p. (in Russian)][Logachev, N.A., Lomonosova, T.K., Klimanova, V.M. Kainozoiskiye otlozheniya Irkutskogo amfiteatra [Cenozoic deposits of the Irkutsk Amphitheater]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1964, 187 p. (in Russian)][Mats, V.D., Efimova, I.M. Morfostruktura zapadnogo podnyatogo plecha Baykal'skogo rifta [Morphostructure of the western raised shoulder of the Baikal rift]. Geomorfologiya, 2010, no. 1, pp. 67-76. (in Russian)][Medvedev, G.I., Berdnikova, N.Ye., Goryunova, O.I., Lipnina, Ye.A., Novikov, A.G., Berdnikov, I.M. Geoarkheologicheskoe baikalovedenie: stanovlenie, sovremennoe sostoyanie, spetsifika [Geoarcheology of Baikal region: formation, current state, specificity]. Izv. Irkutskogo gos. un-ta. Seriya “Geoarkheologiya. Etnologiya. Antropologiya”, 2015, vol. 11, pp. 3-38. (in Russian)][Mel'nik, A.V. Dinamika antropogennykh landshaftov Zapadnogo Zabaykal'ya (istoriko-geograficheskii aspekt) [Dynamics of anthropogenic landscapes of Western Transbaikalia (historical and geographical aspect)]. Moscow, MIIGAiK Publ., 1999, 342 p. (in Russian)][Nesmeyanov, S.A. Paleogeoekologiya – kontseptsiya i osnovnye napravleniya [Paleogeoecology – the concept and the main directions]. Geoekologiya, 2007, no. 4, pp. 291-301. (in Russian)][Okladnikov, A.P. Arkheologicheskiye issledovaniya v Buryat-Mongolii [Archaeological research in Buryat-Mongolia]. Izv. AN SSSR. Ser. istorii i filosofii, 1951, vol. 8, no. 5, pp. 440-450. (in Russian)][Okladnikov, A.P. [To the study of the oldest traces of human activity on Lake Baikal: "Quartz Paleolith"]. Arkheologiya Severnoi i Tsentral'noi Azii [Archeology of Northern and Central Asia]. Novosibirsk, Nauka Publ., 1975, pp. 11-21. (in Russian)][Rezanov, I.N., Imetkhenov, A.B. [To the paleogeography of the Late Pleistocene of the South-Eastern Baikal region]. Pozdnii pleistotsen i golotsen yuga Vostochnoi Sibiri [The Late Pleistocene and Holocene of the South of Eastern Siberia]. Novosibirsk, Nauka Publ., 1982, pp. 158-161. (in Russian)][Svinin, V.V. [A Man on Lake Baikal]. Baykal'skaya storona [The Baikal area]. Irkutsk, 1991, pp. 105-144. (in Russian)][Tseytlin, S.M. Geologiya paleolita Severnoi Evrazii [Geology of the Paleolithic of Northern Eurasia]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1979, 284 p. (in Russian)][Goebel, T., Aksenov, M. Accelerator radiocarbon dating of the initial Upper Palaeolithic in southeast Siberia. Antiquity, 1995, vol. 69, pp. 349-357.]