Anthropogenic Degradation of Soils on River Terraces in the Volga–Ural Region in the Bronze Age and Its Effect on the Modern Soil–Plant Cover

Abstract

The anthropogenic activity in the Bronze Age caused significant transformations of soils and landscapes in the Volga-Ural steppes. The anthropogenic impact was especially strong near ancient settlements. Overgrazing and the vegetation degradation related to it, including subsequent soil erosion, resulted in the development of combinations of soil–plant cover and microrelief not typical for the steppe region. Examples of the development of solonchaks in microdepressions and zonal soils on microelevations have been only revealed in a 1-km-wide zone around numerous Late Bronze settlements in the steppes of Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, and Samara oblasts. It is proposed that the specific anthropogenic complexity of soil and plant cover start to form in the second millennium BC.