Human activity and nature conservation problems

Abstract

The early history of human activity in the Northern Caucasus is known frrom the peat, dung and fossil analysis of a few sites in North Ossetia and Karachaevo-Cherkessiya (Savinetskii 1992). The earliest period with proven livestock grazing comprises 4000–2000 yrs BP, when pig raising in the broadleaf forests became common at lower elevations. The second period was characterized by the greater prominence of sheep herding beginning ca. 2000 yrs BP. Particularly severe pressure on the region’s forests become noticeable especially since ca. 700 yrs BP, when the Alans and related tribes had to intensify grazing in response to the Tatar-Mongol invasion which pushed local tribes into the mountains and disrupted trade with the lowlands.