A05_03

Chronology, Climate & Resilience: Using Multi-Proxy Bayesian Chronologies to Examine Pastoralist Responses to Dynamic Steppe Environments and Landscapes in Mongolia.

Green E¹

¹University Of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom

This paper presents a novel approach for the examination of chronology alongside paleoclimatic proxies for specific localities, helping to bridge gaps in Mongolian paleoclimatic records, and focusing on understanding climatic and environmental change from the ‘smaller picture’ up. Presented here will be an extensive suite of new and published radiocarbon dates alongside stable isotope data for C/N, O, S isotopes from human and animal remains excavated from burial contexts across the Egiin Gol to construct a robust Bayesian chronology for north Mongolia that supplements current chronological frameworks, corroborates emerging narratives of increasing cultural complexity across Eurasian Prehistory and demonstrably questions traditional narratives of homogeneity. This multi-faceted study explores the application of stable isotopes as proxies for paleoclimate (alongside diet and foddering practices) and explores how nomadic pastoral communities adapted to the dynamic and changing environments of Eastern Eurasia during the Middle Holocene, and the Bronze and Iron Ages. This will enable a better understanding of the environments and climates of Eurasian landscapes, whilst contributing to Pan-Asian narratives of human adaptation and resilience throughout the Holocene.