Ekaterina Ershova | Moscow State University (original) (raw)

Papers by Ekaterina Ershova

Kratkie soobŝeniâ, Nov 15, 2021

В работе представлены результаты анализа почв, погребенных под курганами XII-XIII вв. Волковской ... more В работе представлены результаты анализа почв, погребенных под курганами XII-XIII вв. Волковской курганной группы на территории Звенигородской биостанции МГУ. На основе разработанной авторами диагностики слоев, связанных с подсечным земледелием, были проанализированы погребенные почвы и угленасыщенные горизонты под двумя курганными насыпями. Выявлены следы нескольких эпизодов подсечно-огневого земледелия; они датированы радиоуглеродным методом I, II и X веками н. э. The paper reports on the analysis of soils buried under the kurgans of the 12th - 13th centuries from the Volkovo kurgan group situated within the compound of the MSU Zvenigorod biological station. Based on the diagnostic assessment of the layers associated with slash-and-burn agriculture developed by the authors, the buried soils and the carbonaceous horizons under two kurgan mounds were examined. Traces of several instances of slash-and-burn agriculture use were identified, the radiocarbon dating puts them to the 1st, the 2nd and the 10th centuries.

IOP conference series, Feb 4, 2020

The paper presents the first results of pollen and macrofossil analysis of a peat bog located nea... more The paper presents the first results of pollen and macrofossil analysis of a peat bog located near the Moscow city within the territory of the Losiny Ostrov National Park. Macrofossil data demonstrate that the bog development started from the stage of a spring calcetrophic fen at the very beginning of the Holocene. After 9.9 ka BP it became a mesooligotrophic herbaceous-sphagnum bog. Pollen data manifest early spread of spruce in the Moscow region (before 10.2 ka BP). Predominance of broad-leaved temperate deciduous forests is characteristic of the Holocene thermal optimum (8.5-4.8 ka BP). The new spread of spruce forests began after 4.8 ka BP. The first signs of deforestation for agriculture date back to 1.8-1.7 ka BP (Early Iron Age). The next massive deforestation for agriculture was recorded 0.7-0.4 ka BP (Middle Age). After the 17th century, anthropogenic activity decreased, as a result of the establishment of the reserve status.

IOP conference series, 2020

The first results of paleogeographic study at estuary of the Katynka river allow to reconstruct t... more The first results of paleogeographic study at estuary of the Katynka river allow to reconstruct the dynamics of vegetation in this part of the Dnieper floodplain for about 5 millennia and identify some traces of Neolithic, Early Iron Age and Medieval human activity. The most prominent anthropogenic transformation of landscapes (signs of slash-and-burn agriculture) was associated with the late Holocene «Gnezdovo» buried soil dated 2-5 centuries AD.

Поволжская археология, Dec 23, 2022

Главный редактор член-корреспондент АН РТ, доктор исторических наук А.Г. Ситдиков Заместители гла... more Главный редактор член-корреспондент АН РТ, доктор исторических наук А.Г. Ситдиков Заместители главного редактора: член-корреспондент АН РТ, доктор исторических наук Ф.Ш. Хузин доктор исторических наук Ю.А. Зеленеев Ответственный секретарь-кандидат ветеринарных наук Г.Ш. Асылгараева

Kratkie soobŝeniâ, Nov 15, 2021

Резюме. Статья посвящена характеристике и анализу такого признака погребального обряда волго-донс... more Резюме. Статья посвящена характеристике и анализу такого признака погребального обряда волго-донской бабинской культуры (2200-2000 CalBC), как кости животных. Их расположение в могиле и анатомический состав являются надежными культурно-хронологическими индикаторами. «Визитной карточкой» культуры является помещение в могилы костей конечностей МРС, КРС и МРС/КРС. Располагаются они, как правило, перед умершим, у левой руки. Анализ количественного соотношения и территориального распространения погребений с костями МРС и КРС позволяет предварительно охарактеризовать хозяйственную модель носителей волго-донской бабинской культуры. Ключевые слова: культурный круг Бабино, волго-донская бабинская культура, погребения, кости конечностей МРС и КРС, хронология, хозяйственная модель. Волго-донская бабинская культура (ВДБК) занимала восточную часть блока посткатакомбных культурных образований (рис. 1). С ее выделением (Мимоход, 2014) концепция культурного круга Бабино Р. А. Литвиненко (Литвиненко, 2011) приобрела завершенность. На сегодняшний день в него входят волго-донская, днепро-донская и днепро-прутская бабинские культуры. Культурный круг Бабино вместе с культурным кругом Лола составляют структуру всего посткатакомбного мира (Мимоход, 2016; 2018а. С. 33, 35. Рис. 2). В свое время, когда в нулевых годах нынешнего века выделялись культурные образования в восточной и юго-восточной частях посткатакомбного блока, 1 Работа выполнена в рамках плановой темы АААА-А18-118011790090-1. Радиоуглеродное датирование образцов из комплексов Евстратовский II 4/3, Калиновский I 1/4, Николаевка III 3/4, 5/1 выполнено при поддержке гранта РНФ 19-18-00406.

Eurasian Soil Science, Jun 1, 2018

Several series of well-developed paleosols of different ages have been examined on the Moskva Riv... more Several series of well-developed paleosols of different ages have been examined on the Moskva River floodplain. In the beginning of the Holocene, forest-steppe biomes were widespread in this area, and dark-humus (Black) soils with stable humate humus and without features of textural differentiation predominated on the floodplain. The presence of meadow-steppe vegetation communities during this period is confirmed by the results of palynological and anthracological analyses. The lower paleosol in section RANIS 2 is represented by the deep humus horizon with 14 C dates from 5500 to 8400 BP and the carbonate-accumulative horizon; it also contains large and deep tunnels of burrowing animals typical of chernozems. Wood charcoal is absent, and pollen of Artemisia and Chenopodium species predominates. Paleosols of the second half of the Holocene are represented by gray-humus and soddy-podzolic soils (Luvisols). In these soils and in the alluvial sediments, beginning from the Subboreal period, pollen of trees predominates; there are abundant charcoal of spruce and burnt spruce needles. In that time, forest-steppe and broadleaved forest biomes on the floodplain were replaced by southern taiga biomes. The second half of the Holocene is also specified by the human impacts on the local landscapes. Palynological and anthracological data attest to the large-scale burning of forests for pastures in the Bronze Age and, later, for cropland. The paleosol of the Iron Age is enriched in humus. It contains tunnels of burrowing animals related to the stage of anthropogenic meadows. It also contains pyrogenic calcite. The recent centuries have been characterized by extremely high floods triggered by the human activity; they have been accompanied by the fast accumulation of coarse-textured alluvial sediments and the formation of weakly developed alluvial soils.

Povolzhskaya Arkheologiya (The Volga River Region Archaeology), 2021

In this work we present the results of spore and pollen analysis of forest soils from the Zvenigo... more In this work we present the results of spore and pollen analysis of forest soils from the Zvenigorod biological station of Moscow State University (Moscow Region, Russia). A comparative analysis of forest soils formed on the site of historical fields of the XVIII–XIX centuries and beyond showed that a specific complex of pollen and spores remains in the residual arable horizons, characteristic only of soils that have passed through the stages of plowing and fallow. It includes pollen from cultivated cereals and arable weeds (buckwheat, cornflower blue), spores of the mace-shaped plaunus (Lycopodium clavatum), as well as spores of the mosses Riccia glauca and Anthoceros spp. The latter are exclusive indicators of fallows, since they are practically not found in other habitats. The identified pollen indicators can be used in landscape and archaeological research to interpret the data of spore-pollen analysis of cultural layers, buried soils, gully-ravine sediments. They can also be us...

Краткие сообщения Института археологии (КСИА), 2019

В статье суммируются сведения о раскопках Малого города Вязьмы (Соборный холм). Приводятся резуль... more В статье суммируются сведения о раскопках Малого города Вязьмы (Соборный холм). Приводятся результаты спорово пыльцевых и антропологических исследований. По итогам работ 2017 г. было установлено, что на Соборном холме в XIII в. располагалось кладбище, ограниченное с юга городской застройкой. После пожара конца XIII в. участок пустеет и вновь застраивается в XVI XVII вв., когда здесь был возведен деревянный замок острог с тремя башнями и стенами городнями. This paper summarizes data on the excavations performed in the Small Town (the Cathedral Hill) in Vyazma. It presents the results of pollen and anthropological analyses. Based on the 2017 excavations, it was established that in the 13th century there had been a cemetery on the Cathedral Hill which was confined in the south by a residential area. After the fire at the end of the 13th century this area was abandoned to be rebuilt in the 16th/17th centuries when a wooden castle, i.e. a wooden fortress with three towers and log walls f...

AAG 2016 Annual Meeting San-Francisco Abstracts, 2016

Povolzhskaya Arkheologiya (The Volga River Region Archaeology), 2021

The results of a paleoecological study of a peat deposit in Radomsky Mokh area (Smolensk Oblast, ... more The results of a paleoecological study of a peat deposit in Radomsky Mokh area (Smolensk Oblast, Krasninsky District) made it possible to reconstruct the history of the region's landscapes over the last 4 thousand years and identify its 4 contrasting periods. The reservoir was a lake at first, after which the pollen spectrum is dominated by pollen from native tree species. After a series of fires on the boundary of the Bronze and Early Iron Ages (3173–2969 14C calendar years ago) (2σ, 99.7%)) a forested mesotrophic swamp formed at the site of the lake, and pollen from pioneer trees with an admixture of alder started to dominate the pollen spectrum. At the third stage, the swamp became mesotrophic, and the landscapes around it become open, which is evidenced by an increase in the proportion of grasses and anthropogenic indicators in the pollen spectrum. The same period is marked with the appearance of pollen of cultivated grasses (2992–2912 simulated years ago), which coincides w...

The Holocene, 2010

Paleoecological archives from three paleomeander sites and one archeological feature located in t... more Paleoecological archives from three paleomeander sites and one archeological feature located in the lower Río Verde Valley, Oaxaca, Mexico, are used to develop a spatial understanding of the patterns of prehistoric agricultural land use over the last ~3000 years. Multiproxy paleoecological data at each site (i.e. magnetic susceptibility, micro- and macroscopic charcoal, pollen and stable carbon isotopes) provide a history of land use. By examining the spatial differences in agricultural indicators at all the sites through time, augmented with our understanding of changes in demography and settlement patterns determined through the archeological record, we are able to reconstruct the complex human/land interactions in the western portion of the valley.

SITE ZAMOSTJE 2 AND LANDSCAPE EVOLUTION IN THE VOLGA-OKA REGION DURING THE HOLOCENE

Коллективная монография является результатом комплексных исследований палеоландшафта и условий об... more Коллективная монография является результатом комплексных исследований палеоландшафта и условий обитания населения мезолита и неолита в бассейне Верхней Волги на примере известного озерного поселения Замостье 2 (Сергиево-Посадский р-н Московской области). Для реконструкции растительности и рельефа территории, окружавших стоянку в среднем и позднем голоцене, привлечены данные палинологических, палеоботанических и антракологических исследований, результаты метода геохимической индикации, а также археологические и исторические архивные источники. Предназначена для специалистов археологов, историков, палеоботаников, специалистов смежных дисциплин и широкого круга читателей. УДК 902/904 ББК 20,1 63.4

VITA ANTIQUA, 2020

The most important changes in the economy and material culture in foraging societies of the Easte... more The most important changes in the economy and material culture in foraging societies of the Eastern Eu rope forest zone on the eve of the spread of ceramic production coincided with the 8.2 ka Cold Event and its consequences. We consider these changes in the local example of the site Zamostje 2 located in Volga-Oka re gion, using results of longtime multidisciplinary research. Findings of our archaeological and paleoecological studies and comparison with regional data draw a picture of local changes in the context of ecological instabi lity and discontinuity of material culture traditions in the second half of the 7 th-beginning of the 6 th mil. Cal BC.

Japanese Journal of Palynology

Japanese Journal of Palynology

The article discusses the relationships between the actual local vegetation of the White Sea isla... more The article discusses the relationships between the actual local vegetation of the White Sea islands and their modern surface pollen spectra. Surface soils and peat were sampled on the islands and the mainland coast of the Poriya Guba Bay under different geographical conditions and plant communities. The obtained spectra were analyzed using the cluster analysis and the principal component analysis. The results show that the modern pollen spectra adequately reflect both the zonal vegetation, i.e. the northern boreal forests, and its local features. The typical treeless communities located on the open-sea islands and dominated by Empetrum are the most clearly identified by the surface pollen spectra. Other plant communities have less specific pollen spectra. The surface spectra from forests, open woodlands and dwarf shrub communities in the inner part of the bay are rather similar in composition. This suggests their common formation as different stages of a single succession. Surface spectra of bogs and waterlogged Empetrum communities are also quite similar. It is shown that the openness to winds and humidification are important factors for the formation of modern pollen spectra of the islands. The results prove that within the boreal forest zone the treeless islands with dwarf shrub vegetation have specific surface pollen spectra, which agrees with the previous studies in other sub-Arctic regions. The patterns revealed in the course of the study could be used for interpreting the results of the pollen analysis of fossil deposits of the White Sea islands.

Kratkie soobŝeniâ, Nov 15, 2021

В работе представлены результаты анализа почв, погребенных под курганами XII-XIII вв. Волковской ... more В работе представлены результаты анализа почв, погребенных под курганами XII-XIII вв. Волковской курганной группы на территории Звенигородской биостанции МГУ. На основе разработанной авторами диагностики слоев, связанных с подсечным земледелием, были проанализированы погребенные почвы и угленасыщенные горизонты под двумя курганными насыпями. Выявлены следы нескольких эпизодов подсечно-огневого земледелия; они датированы радиоуглеродным методом I, II и X веками н. э. The paper reports on the analysis of soils buried under the kurgans of the 12th - 13th centuries from the Volkovo kurgan group situated within the compound of the MSU Zvenigorod biological station. Based on the diagnostic assessment of the layers associated with slash-and-burn agriculture developed by the authors, the buried soils and the carbonaceous horizons under two kurgan mounds were examined. Traces of several instances of slash-and-burn agriculture use were identified, the radiocarbon dating puts them to the 1st, the 2nd and the 10th centuries.

IOP conference series, Feb 4, 2020

The paper presents the first results of pollen and macrofossil analysis of a peat bog located nea... more The paper presents the first results of pollen and macrofossil analysis of a peat bog located near the Moscow city within the territory of the Losiny Ostrov National Park. Macrofossil data demonstrate that the bog development started from the stage of a spring calcetrophic fen at the very beginning of the Holocene. After 9.9 ka BP it became a mesooligotrophic herbaceous-sphagnum bog. Pollen data manifest early spread of spruce in the Moscow region (before 10.2 ka BP). Predominance of broad-leaved temperate deciduous forests is characteristic of the Holocene thermal optimum (8.5-4.8 ka BP). The new spread of spruce forests began after 4.8 ka BP. The first signs of deforestation for agriculture date back to 1.8-1.7 ka BP (Early Iron Age). The next massive deforestation for agriculture was recorded 0.7-0.4 ka BP (Middle Age). After the 17th century, anthropogenic activity decreased, as a result of the establishment of the reserve status.

IOP conference series, 2020

The first results of paleogeographic study at estuary of the Katynka river allow to reconstruct t... more The first results of paleogeographic study at estuary of the Katynka river allow to reconstruct the dynamics of vegetation in this part of the Dnieper floodplain for about 5 millennia and identify some traces of Neolithic, Early Iron Age and Medieval human activity. The most prominent anthropogenic transformation of landscapes (signs of slash-and-burn agriculture) was associated with the late Holocene «Gnezdovo» buried soil dated 2-5 centuries AD.

Поволжская археология, Dec 23, 2022

Главный редактор член-корреспондент АН РТ, доктор исторических наук А.Г. Ситдиков Заместители гла... more Главный редактор член-корреспондент АН РТ, доктор исторических наук А.Г. Ситдиков Заместители главного редактора: член-корреспондент АН РТ, доктор исторических наук Ф.Ш. Хузин доктор исторических наук Ю.А. Зеленеев Ответственный секретарь-кандидат ветеринарных наук Г.Ш. Асылгараева

Kratkie soobŝeniâ, Nov 15, 2021

Резюме. Статья посвящена характеристике и анализу такого признака погребального обряда волго-донс... more Резюме. Статья посвящена характеристике и анализу такого признака погребального обряда волго-донской бабинской культуры (2200-2000 CalBC), как кости животных. Их расположение в могиле и анатомический состав являются надежными культурно-хронологическими индикаторами. «Визитной карточкой» культуры является помещение в могилы костей конечностей МРС, КРС и МРС/КРС. Располагаются они, как правило, перед умершим, у левой руки. Анализ количественного соотношения и территориального распространения погребений с костями МРС и КРС позволяет предварительно охарактеризовать хозяйственную модель носителей волго-донской бабинской культуры. Ключевые слова: культурный круг Бабино, волго-донская бабинская культура, погребения, кости конечностей МРС и КРС, хронология, хозяйственная модель. Волго-донская бабинская культура (ВДБК) занимала восточную часть блока посткатакомбных культурных образований (рис. 1). С ее выделением (Мимоход, 2014) концепция культурного круга Бабино Р. А. Литвиненко (Литвиненко, 2011) приобрела завершенность. На сегодняшний день в него входят волго-донская, днепро-донская и днепро-прутская бабинские культуры. Культурный круг Бабино вместе с культурным кругом Лола составляют структуру всего посткатакомбного мира (Мимоход, 2016; 2018а. С. 33, 35. Рис. 2). В свое время, когда в нулевых годах нынешнего века выделялись культурные образования в восточной и юго-восточной частях посткатакомбного блока, 1 Работа выполнена в рамках плановой темы АААА-А18-118011790090-1. Радиоуглеродное датирование образцов из комплексов Евстратовский II 4/3, Калиновский I 1/4, Николаевка III 3/4, 5/1 выполнено при поддержке гранта РНФ 19-18-00406.

Eurasian Soil Science, Jun 1, 2018

Several series of well-developed paleosols of different ages have been examined on the Moskva Riv... more Several series of well-developed paleosols of different ages have been examined on the Moskva River floodplain. In the beginning of the Holocene, forest-steppe biomes were widespread in this area, and dark-humus (Black) soils with stable humate humus and without features of textural differentiation predominated on the floodplain. The presence of meadow-steppe vegetation communities during this period is confirmed by the results of palynological and anthracological analyses. The lower paleosol in section RANIS 2 is represented by the deep humus horizon with 14 C dates from 5500 to 8400 BP and the carbonate-accumulative horizon; it also contains large and deep tunnels of burrowing animals typical of chernozems. Wood charcoal is absent, and pollen of Artemisia and Chenopodium species predominates. Paleosols of the second half of the Holocene are represented by gray-humus and soddy-podzolic soils (Luvisols). In these soils and in the alluvial sediments, beginning from the Subboreal period, pollen of trees predominates; there are abundant charcoal of spruce and burnt spruce needles. In that time, forest-steppe and broadleaved forest biomes on the floodplain were replaced by southern taiga biomes. The second half of the Holocene is also specified by the human impacts on the local landscapes. Palynological and anthracological data attest to the large-scale burning of forests for pastures in the Bronze Age and, later, for cropland. The paleosol of the Iron Age is enriched in humus. It contains tunnels of burrowing animals related to the stage of anthropogenic meadows. It also contains pyrogenic calcite. The recent centuries have been characterized by extremely high floods triggered by the human activity; they have been accompanied by the fast accumulation of coarse-textured alluvial sediments and the formation of weakly developed alluvial soils.

Povolzhskaya Arkheologiya (The Volga River Region Archaeology), 2021

In this work we present the results of spore and pollen analysis of forest soils from the Zvenigo... more In this work we present the results of spore and pollen analysis of forest soils from the Zvenigorod biological station of Moscow State University (Moscow Region, Russia). A comparative analysis of forest soils formed on the site of historical fields of the XVIII–XIX centuries and beyond showed that a specific complex of pollen and spores remains in the residual arable horizons, characteristic only of soils that have passed through the stages of plowing and fallow. It includes pollen from cultivated cereals and arable weeds (buckwheat, cornflower blue), spores of the mace-shaped plaunus (Lycopodium clavatum), as well as spores of the mosses Riccia glauca and Anthoceros spp. The latter are exclusive indicators of fallows, since they are practically not found in other habitats. The identified pollen indicators can be used in landscape and archaeological research to interpret the data of spore-pollen analysis of cultural layers, buried soils, gully-ravine sediments. They can also be us...

Краткие сообщения Института археологии (КСИА), 2019

В статье суммируются сведения о раскопках Малого города Вязьмы (Соборный холм). Приводятся резуль... more В статье суммируются сведения о раскопках Малого города Вязьмы (Соборный холм). Приводятся результаты спорово пыльцевых и антропологических исследований. По итогам работ 2017 г. было установлено, что на Соборном холме в XIII в. располагалось кладбище, ограниченное с юга городской застройкой. После пожара конца XIII в. участок пустеет и вновь застраивается в XVI XVII вв., когда здесь был возведен деревянный замок острог с тремя башнями и стенами городнями. This paper summarizes data on the excavations performed in the Small Town (the Cathedral Hill) in Vyazma. It presents the results of pollen and anthropological analyses. Based on the 2017 excavations, it was established that in the 13th century there had been a cemetery on the Cathedral Hill which was confined in the south by a residential area. After the fire at the end of the 13th century this area was abandoned to be rebuilt in the 16th/17th centuries when a wooden castle, i.e. a wooden fortress with three towers and log walls f...

AAG 2016 Annual Meeting San-Francisco Abstracts, 2016

Povolzhskaya Arkheologiya (The Volga River Region Archaeology), 2021

The results of a paleoecological study of a peat deposit in Radomsky Mokh area (Smolensk Oblast, ... more The results of a paleoecological study of a peat deposit in Radomsky Mokh area (Smolensk Oblast, Krasninsky District) made it possible to reconstruct the history of the region's landscapes over the last 4 thousand years and identify its 4 contrasting periods. The reservoir was a lake at first, after which the pollen spectrum is dominated by pollen from native tree species. After a series of fires on the boundary of the Bronze and Early Iron Ages (3173–2969 14C calendar years ago) (2σ, 99.7%)) a forested mesotrophic swamp formed at the site of the lake, and pollen from pioneer trees with an admixture of alder started to dominate the pollen spectrum. At the third stage, the swamp became mesotrophic, and the landscapes around it become open, which is evidenced by an increase in the proportion of grasses and anthropogenic indicators in the pollen spectrum. The same period is marked with the appearance of pollen of cultivated grasses (2992–2912 simulated years ago), which coincides w...

The Holocene, 2010

Paleoecological archives from three paleomeander sites and one archeological feature located in t... more Paleoecological archives from three paleomeander sites and one archeological feature located in the lower Río Verde Valley, Oaxaca, Mexico, are used to develop a spatial understanding of the patterns of prehistoric agricultural land use over the last ~3000 years. Multiproxy paleoecological data at each site (i.e. magnetic susceptibility, micro- and macroscopic charcoal, pollen and stable carbon isotopes) provide a history of land use. By examining the spatial differences in agricultural indicators at all the sites through time, augmented with our understanding of changes in demography and settlement patterns determined through the archeological record, we are able to reconstruct the complex human/land interactions in the western portion of the valley.

SITE ZAMOSTJE 2 AND LANDSCAPE EVOLUTION IN THE VOLGA-OKA REGION DURING THE HOLOCENE

Коллективная монография является результатом комплексных исследований палеоландшафта и условий об... more Коллективная монография является результатом комплексных исследований палеоландшафта и условий обитания населения мезолита и неолита в бассейне Верхней Волги на примере известного озерного поселения Замостье 2 (Сергиево-Посадский р-н Московской области). Для реконструкции растительности и рельефа территории, окружавших стоянку в среднем и позднем голоцене, привлечены данные палинологических, палеоботанических и антракологических исследований, результаты метода геохимической индикации, а также археологические и исторические архивные источники. Предназначена для специалистов археологов, историков, палеоботаников, специалистов смежных дисциплин и широкого круга читателей. УДК 902/904 ББК 20,1 63.4

VITA ANTIQUA, 2020

The most important changes in the economy and material culture in foraging societies of the Easte... more The most important changes in the economy and material culture in foraging societies of the Eastern Eu rope forest zone on the eve of the spread of ceramic production coincided with the 8.2 ka Cold Event and its consequences. We consider these changes in the local example of the site Zamostje 2 located in Volga-Oka re gion, using results of longtime multidisciplinary research. Findings of our archaeological and paleoecological studies and comparison with regional data draw a picture of local changes in the context of ecological instabi lity and discontinuity of material culture traditions in the second half of the 7 th-beginning of the 6 th mil. Cal BC.

Japanese Journal of Palynology

Japanese Journal of Palynology

The article discusses the relationships between the actual local vegetation of the White Sea isla... more The article discusses the relationships between the actual local vegetation of the White Sea islands and their modern surface pollen spectra. Surface soils and peat were sampled on the islands and the mainland coast of the Poriya Guba Bay under different geographical conditions and plant communities. The obtained spectra were analyzed using the cluster analysis and the principal component analysis. The results show that the modern pollen spectra adequately reflect both the zonal vegetation, i.e. the northern boreal forests, and its local features. The typical treeless communities located on the open-sea islands and dominated by Empetrum are the most clearly identified by the surface pollen spectra. Other plant communities have less specific pollen spectra. The surface spectra from forests, open woodlands and dwarf shrub communities in the inner part of the bay are rather similar in composition. This suggests their common formation as different stages of a single succession. Surface spectra of bogs and waterlogged Empetrum communities are also quite similar. It is shown that the openness to winds and humidification are important factors for the formation of modern pollen spectra of the islands. The results prove that within the boreal forest zone the treeless islands with dwarf shrub vegetation have specific surface pollen spectra, which agrees with the previous studies in other sub-Arctic regions. The patterns revealed in the course of the study could be used for interpreting the results of the pollen analysis of fossil deposits of the White Sea islands.