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High mobility among Scythian populations is often cited as the driving force behind pan-regional interactions and the spread of new material culture c.700–200 bce, when burgeoning socioeconomic interactions between the Greeks, Scythian steppe pastoralists and the agro-pastoral tribes of the forest-steppe played out across the region. While interregional mobility central to warrior lifestyles is assumed to have been a defining feature of Scythian populations, strikingly few studies have investigated human mobility among communities located along the steppe and forest-steppe boundary zone. Here, we document movement and dietary intake of individuals interred at Bel'sk, a large urban settlement in Ukraine, through strontium, oxygen and carbon isotope analyses of human tooth enamel. The results provide direct evidence for limited mobility among populations from Bel'sk, demonstrating the movement into, and out of, urban complexes. Strontium and oxygen isotope analyses reveal that groups at Bel'sk remained local to the urban complex. Dietary intake, reflected in carbon isotopes, was based on domesticated crops and livestock herding. The combination of low mobility alongside dietary evidence suggests local groups engaged in sedentary agro-pastoral subsistence strategies that contrast sharply with the picture of highly mobile Scythian herders dependent on livestock portrayed in historical sources. Introduction Materials and methods - Establishing a local 87Sr/86Sr composition for Bel’sk - The Bel’sk archaeological complex: Settlements and cemeteries Results - Archaeological human 87Sr/86Sr values - Human δ18O - Human δ13C Discussion - Low Sr isotope variation indicates localized mobility - Difficulties of estimating mobility using O isotope variation - Millet consumption among pastoral populations based on C isotope values - Mobility and diet of urban populations Conclusions

Aim: We provide the first European-scale geospatial training set relating the charcoal signal in surface lake sediments to fire parameters (number, intensity and area) recorded by satellite moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors. Our calibration is intended for quantitative reconstructions of key fire-regime parameters by using sediment sequences of microscopic (MIC from pollen slides, particles 10-500 µm) and macroscopic charcoal (MAC from sieves, particles >100 µm). Location: North-south and east-west transects across Europe, covering the mediterranean, temperate, alpine, boreal and steppe biomes. Time period: Lake sediments and MODIS active fire and burned area products were collected for the years 2012-2015. Methods: Cylinder sediment traps were installed in lakes to annually collect charcoal particles in sediments. We quantitatively assessed the relationships between MIC and MAC influx (particles/cm2/year) and the MODIS-derived products to identify source areas of charcoal and the extent to which lake-sediment charcoal is linked to fire parameters across the continent. Results: Source area of sedimentary charcoal was estimated to a 40-km radius around sites for both MIC and MAC particles. Fires occurred in grasslands and in forests, with grass morphotypes of MAC accurately reflecting the burned fuel-type. Despite the lack of local fires around the sites, MAC influx levels reached those reported for local fires. Both MIC and MAC showed strong and highly significant relationships with the MODIS-derived fire parameters, as well as with climatic variation along a latitudinal temperature gradient. Main conclusions: MIC and MAC are suited to quantitatively reconstructing fire number and fire intensity on a regional scale. However, burned area may only be estimated using MAC. Local fires may be identified by using several lines of evidence, e.g. analysis of large particles (>Â600 µm), magnetic susceptibility and sedimentological data. Our results offer new insights and applications to quantitatively reconstruct fires and to interpret available sedimentary charcoal records.

The northern Pontic steppe in the southern part of Eastern Europe has reacted to climate changes. It is characterized by a historically constant moisture deficiency, and is an advantageous area for study of diverse types of human adaptation to climate changes. Two main types of such adaptations, which occurred during the 6th–1st millennium BC, have been distinguished. The first is connected with the early historical migrations, and the second with changes in the economy of local steppe populations.