CHANGES IN SOILS AND ENVIRONMENT OF THE STEPPE PRE-URALS AREA DURING THE 2ND HALF OF THE HOLOCENE

Paleopedological investigation of archaeological monuments of the Bron ze Age in the ordinary chernozem subzone of the Pre-Urals area showed that, in the middle of the second millennium B.C., the study area was dominated by southern chernozems. They were rather shallow soils with humus tonguing, contained carbonates from the surface, and had feature s of solonetz and solonchak. The properties of paleochernozems give re ason to believe that the area climate was more dry and continental in the second and third millennia B.C. than it is now. During the period after the end of the Subboreal Holocene to the beginning of the Subatl antic Holocene, there was a shift of the soil-geographic subzones to t he south; and the southern chernozems evolved into the ordinary cherno zems.