Holocene Dynamics of Invertebrate Fauna in the Littoral Zone
of Adak, the Aleutian Islands, According
to Archaeozoological Data

Zh. A. Antipushina^a, N. K. Kiseleva^a, B. F. Khassanov^a, A. V. Pakhnevich^b,
O. A. Krylovich^a, B. I. Sirenko^c, and A. B. Savinetsky^a

^aSevertsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninskii pr. 33, Moscow, 119071 Russia;

e-mail: zh_antipushina@mail.ru

^bPaleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsoyuznaya ul. 123, Moscow, 117997 Russia

^cZoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya nab. 1, St. Petersburg, 199034 Russia

Received July 9, 2008

Abstract—Studies on invertebrate remains from the cultural layer of an ancient Aleut settlement on Adak
Island have shown that the faunistic composition of invertebrates in the study area had not changed significantly
during the Late Holocene. The traditional mode of natural resource use by the ancient Aleuts had no impact on
the abundance of valuable species and biodiversity in general. Changes in the temperature regime were found
to have taken place in the history of deposit formation. The period from the 8th to the mid-11th century was
relatively cold. Climate warming took place between the mid-11th and the mid-12th centuries and between the
mid-16th and the 19th centuries, with an intervening cooling period (from the mid-12th to the mid-16th cen-
tury). This cooling was most distinct between the 15th and the mid-16th centuries.

DOI: 10.1134/S106741360902009X

Key words: Holocene, ecosystem dynamics, Aleutian Islands, marine invertebrates, shell middens.

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