Climate Changes and Cultural Responses in the Southeastern Kazakhstan during the past 50,000 years
The objective of this research is to explore the dynamic relationship between long-term palaeoclimatic fluctuations and patterns of human occupation in southeastern Kazakhstan over the past ~50,000 years. Specifically, grain size-inferred wind intensity variations from the Maibulak (Romantic) loess-paleosol sequence in the Almaty region (Ran et al., 2020) are juxtaposed with stratified cultural horizons identified at the same site (Fitzsimmons et al., 2017). The analysis reveals that wind strength variations preserved in the loess deposits do not appear to have exerted a direct influence on the timing or presence of cultural layers. Furthermore, despite the limited temporal resolution of the Rakhat site dataset (n=12), brGDGT-based reconstructions of mean annual air temperature (MAAT) demonstrate a robust correlation with Northern Hemisphere summer insolation patterns. Furthermore, complementary δ13C-based moisture proxies indicate arid conditions throughout the Last Glacial (MIS 4 to MIS 2), transitioning into more humid phases during the Holocene (MIS 1). The results suggest that southeastern Kazakhstan provided favourable environmental conditions for human habitation during MIS 4 and MIS 3, but likely became climatically restrictive during MIS 2. Consistent with the findings of Fitzsimmons et al. (2017), the development of higher-resolution datasets is advocated in order to substantiate links between climatic shifts and cultural dynamics.
