Abstract
The results of the research of the archaeological settlement “Algai” located in the Lower Volga region, in the Alexandrovo-Gaysky district of the Saratov region are presented. The settlement of the Neo-Eneolithic period includes several archaeological cultural layers formed over the last 8 thousand years. Modern soils are represented by anthropogenically transformed light chestnut carbonate (Eutric Cambisol (Loamic, Protocalcic, Ochric)). The work used soil, paleosurface, paleobotanical methods, radiocarbon dating method. The soil stratum is represented by stratigraphically separated multi-temporal full-profile Holocene soils, showing different rates of Aeolian sedimentation and soil formation processes, vegetation change and anthropogenic presence in this area. Paleosurface and paleobotanical data showed that the natural environment of the territory was not stable throughout the Holocene, and dry steppes existed in the studied territory. The most active processes of sedimentation and soil formation occurred in the middle of the Holocene during the AT-2 period. During the stages of climate aridization, the processes of active sedimentation and the growth of oppressed vegetation took place, which affected the absence of a person in this territory. The stages of climate humanization were expressed in epigenic soil formation with the formation of organo-accumulative horizons, in various plant associations, in a rich species composition of wild animals, which indicates a favorable environment for human habitation in the region. The obtained materials showed the change of the natural environment in the studied area, the formation of Holocene soils of different times, and periodic human migration. Unlike modern soil, buried soils were formed in extremely arid conditions characterized by the formation of soda salinization processes of soils. The conducted research made it possible to obtain new data on the climatic, soil and paleobotanical features of the studied region.