Project Details
Projekt
Palaeoecology and Palaeoclimatology of the Mongolian Plateau and their impact on urbanism
Applicant
Professor Dr. Thomas Litt
Subject Area
Prehistory and World Archaeology
Geology
Geology
Term
since 2023
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 468897144
The main goal of the proposed project during the first application period is the reconstruction of the palaeoenvironment and palaeoclimate in central Mongolia in relation to the urbanism in the Mongolian steppes. This will answer one of the core questions of the proposed Research Unit, namely the interaction between human and environment. High-resolution lacustrine sediments will be used as archives for this approach. This will allow not only to investigate the special time slice related to the Mongol Empire, but also time series based a on diachronic view over thousands of years to reconstruct long-term palaeoenvironmental changes. For several reasons pollen analysis is the principal method for reconstructing Quaternary terrestrial environments. Since pollen can now usually be identified to the genus level, and frequently to the species level, there is great potential for detailed reconstruction of the vegetation in the Mongolian steppes. By applying statistical methods, pollen assemblages will be compared and used for the reconstruction of regional environmental conditions and variations in the study areas through time (Orkhon valley and Khanui valley). The proposed project will for the first time create a comprehensive environmental reconstruction for two micro-regions of Mongolia in unprecedented fine resolution. Indeed, palynological investigations have provided important achievements in the reconstruction of past vegetation and past climate. The pollen data will be used to reconstruct palaeoclimatological parameters such as temperature and precipitation based on botanical-climatological transfer functions. The obtained proxy data and reconstructions will contribute to integrate archaeological results with those of the palaeoecology and palaeoclimatology.
DFG Programme
Research Units
