Tarasov - Baikal Archaeology Project

Environmental and cultural transformations in the Lake Baikal Region reflect hemispheric-scale changes in temperature and atmospheric circulation over the past 8800 years

Characterised by heterogeneous microclimatic conditions, a sharp vegetation gradient and a rich archaeological record, Olkhon Island offers a unique setting to investigate past climate change and its potential influence on cultural trajectories in the Lake Baikal Region (LBR). Palynological and geochemical analyses of the uppermost 556 cm section of the 750 cm long, radiocarbon-dated sediment core (Nur-II) from Lake Nurskoye (53°3'N, 106°58'E; 456 m a.s.l.) at the western end of Olkhon Island reveal several long- and short-term climate [...]

Andrea Hiob2025-11-24T12:04:53-07:00Categories: Journal Articles, Publications|Tags: Tarasov, Long, Habermann, Bezrukova, Hoelzmann, Shchetnikov, Krikunova, Gliwa, Wagner, Kobe, Leipe|

New BAP publication from Dr. Pavel Tarasov and team!

Dr. Pavel Tarasov shares some great BAP news below!: The article on Lake Nurskoye from Olkhon Island has been published open access. We would like to share it with the rest of the BAP Team. Title: "Environmental and cultural transformations in the Lake Baikal Region reflect hemispheric-scale changes in temperature and atmospheric circulation over the past 8800 years" by Pavel E. Tarasov, Franziska Kobe, Christian Leipe, Aleksandr A. Shchetnikov, Elena V. Bezrukova, Linda-Helen Habermann, Philipp Hoelzmann, Moritz Nykamp, [...]

Andrea Hiob2025-11-24T11:51:20-07:00Categories: News|Tags: Shchetnikov, Krikunova, Gliwa, Wagner, Tarasov, Kobe, Leipe, Hoelzmann, Long, Habermann, Bezrukova|

Linda Habermann earns Master’s degree!

Congratulations to Linda Habermann who successfully defended her BAP-related Master’s thesis on October 15, 2025! Linda is a Master’s of Geological Sciences student at Freie Universität Berlin, under the supervision of Prof. Pavel Tarasov. Great news from Pavel: Linda made a very successful defence of her Master’s Project yesterday, 15th October 2025, and received highest grades for the written thesis and oral presentation. Title: Vegetation history and environmental changes on Olkhon Island of Lake Baikal during the Younger Dryas [...]

Andrea Hiob2025-11-17T10:22:49-07:00Categories: News|Tags: Habermann, Tarasov|

Pavel Tarasov, Christian Leipe and Franziska Kobe article published in Quaternary Environments and Humans! Plus MORE!

Great News from Dr. Pavel Tarasov and the Freie Universität Berlin team! Thank you to Pavel for sharing the fantastische news below: The final open access version of our article "Reflections of Late Neolithic–Early Bronze Age environments, land use and pile dwelling activities in a new palynological record from the varved sediments of Lake Mondsee, Austria" is now available online and published in Quaternary Environments and Humans. Pavel Tarasov, Christian Leipe, Franziska Kobe are the co-authors. See buttons [...]

Andrea Hiob2025-07-08T12:12:38-06:00Categories: News|Tags: Bezrukova, Shchetnikov, Krikunova, Gliwa, Wagner, Tarasov, Kobe, Leipe|

Happy Lunar New Year Greetings from Dr. Mayke Wagner, Dr. Pavel Tarasov and their Berlin team!

The Dragon rests again in deep spring, The Snake moves on the high mountain. That's what it says in Chinese on the enclosed postcard, and that's what happened on the night of 29 January. What should we expect from the year of the Snake? ‘Transformation and love, of course!’ a folklorist friend wrote to us. ‘The Legend of the White Snake’ is one of the four best-known folk tales in China and has been recognised as part of the [...]

Andrea Hiob2025-02-26T12:20:48-07:00Categories: News|Tags: Wagner, Tarasov|

Dr. Aleksandra Krikunova successfully defends PhD dissertation!

Congratulations to Dr. Aleksandra Krikunova, BAP PhD student at Freie Universität Berlin, for successfully defending her PhD dissertation on December 10th! Great news from Dr. Pavel Tarasov, Alexandra’s supervisor at Freie Universität Berlin: “Aleksandra's PhD defence was a great success. For the written thesis, oral presentation and subsequent discussion, all members of the committee gave her "magna cum laude", which is a grade for PhDs "with great distinction". We would like to thank all BAP team members and all [...]

Andrea Hiob2024-12-16T08:46:46-07:00Categories: News|Tags: Krikunova, Tarasov|

Alexandra Vasilyeva presents paper at the Paleolimnology of Northern Eurasia Conference in Krasnoyarsk

Alexandra Vasilyeva and Larisa Savelieva recently presented a paper at the 6th International 'Paleolimnology of Northern Eurasia' Conference in Krasnoyarsk, 24-29 August. The BAP-related research study, conducted by BAP students Alexandra Vasilyeva (as part of her Master's program at University of St. Petersburg) and Aleksandra Krikunova (PhD program at Freie Universitaet, Berlin) under the supervision of Dr. Larisa Savelieva and Professor Pavel Tarasov, examines the features of pollen-based vegetation modeling using Holocene pollen records from lakes in the Ladoga-Onega [...]

Andrea Hiob2024-09-12T13:03:00-06:00Categories: News|Tags: Vasilyeva, Savelieva, Krikunova, Tarasov|

Vegetation and fire history of the Lake Baikal Region since 32 ka BP reconstructed through microcharcoal and pollen analysis of lake sediment from Cis- and Trans-Baikal

With the increase in global wildfire activity in response to global climate warming, the reconstruction of long-term fire histories and their links to environmental and anthropogenic factors has recently become an important focus of palaeoenvironmental research. Here we compare the precisely radiocarbon (14C) dated long-term histories of vegetation change and fire activity from lakes Ochaul (Cis-Baikal) and Kotokel (Trans-Baikal) in the Lake Baikal Region (LBR) of Siberia, a known source region of wildfires whose past and future relationships [...]

Andrea Hiob2024-11-05T13:51:37-07:00Categories: Journal Articles, Publications|Tags: Krikunova, Gliwa, Wagner, Tarasov, Kobe, Leipe, Shchetnikov, Bezrukova|

Aleksandra Krikunova article published in Quaternary Science Reviews!

Congratulations to Aleksandra Krikunova and co-authors on the recent publication of their article in Quaternary Science Reviews! Title: Vegetation and fire history of the Lake Baikal Region since 32 ka BP reconstructed through microcharcoal and pollen analysis of lake sediment from Cis- and Trans-Baikal Authors: Krikunova AI, Kobe F, Long T, Leipe C, Gliwa J, Shchetnikov AA, Olschewski P, Hoelzmann, P, Wagner M, Bezrukova EV, Tarasov, PE. Abstract: With the increase in global wildfire activity in response to global climate [...]

Andrea Hiob2024-09-05T12:23:51-06:00Categories: News|Tags: Bezrukova, Shchetnikov, Krikunova, Gliwa, Wagner, Tarasov, Kobe, Leipe|

Richard Arlt earns Master’s degree!

Congratulations to Richard Arlt who successfully defended his BAP-related Master’s thesis on August 9, 2024! Richard is a Master’s of Science in Geology student at Freie Universität Berlin, under the supervision of Prof. Pavel Tarasov. Title: Lateglacial and Holocene fire history in the Upper Lena (Baikal Region, Siberia) based on the results of microcharcoal analysis of the sediment core recovered from Lake Ochaul in 2018. Congratulations, Richard! The attached photo shows a happy Richard in his garden after the [...]

Andrea Hiob2024-08-21T12:05:53-06:00Categories: News|Tags: Tarasov|