Dataset title, description and purpose of the study:
Wielka historia w małym mokradle: złożone relacje człowiek-środowisko na Nizinie Wschodnioeuropejskiej w ciągu ostatnich 13 tysięcy lat - OPUS 21 UMO-2021/41/B/HS3/00042 (dataset)
The subject of the planned research is the reconstruction of palaeoenvironmental conditions in the Western Dvina Lakeland, a part of the East European (Russian) Plain, as a basis for the study on human-environment relationships in the last 13,000 years. The multi-proxy analysis are performed based on organic deposits core collected from the small peat bog in Serteya. This geoarchive allow for detailed reconstructions of the natural history, including climate, vegetation hydrological changes. The proposed research is focused on broadening knowledge on the palaeoenvironmental evolution and reconstructing environmental conditions accompanying the human occupation, and the human-environment relationships in the Late Vistulian and the Holocene. Due to the long period of the dominance of subsistence strategy in the territory (at least up to 4000 BP), our results will allow for detailed study: 1/ on natural palaeoenvironmental evolution, 2/ human-environment relationships in the period of hunter-gatherer economy dominance. The intense archaeological research is realised for of the Serteya area resulted in documentation of over 60 archaeological sites, mostly seasonal and permanent settlements of hunter-gatherer groups from the Stone Age. Precise identification of the time of occupation of the study area and description of the introduced forms of management and changes in ecosystems resulting from human activity will be an important aim. It will be also significant to determine the palaeoclimatic and palaeohydrological conditions in East European Plain.
The research project is financed by a grant from the "National Science Centre, Poland" based on the decision No. 2021/41/B/HS3/00042.
Name (ORCID)/institution/contact details:
Piotr Kittel (ORCID: 0000-0001-6987-7968)/ University of Lodz, Faculty of Geographical Sciences, Department Geology of Geomorphology/piotr.kittel@geo.uni.lodz.pl 

Information about the data collection method and procedures:
Multidisciplinary multi-proxy studies of the 13.5 m organic deposits core from the central part of the Serteya Mire, with the mean rate of accumulation estimated to ca. 1 m for 1 thousand year. The main stages of the study: 1/ the detailed chronology of deposits based on AMS 14C dating and tephrochronology; 2/ comprehensive suite of palaeoecological analyses was made — including pollen, non pollen palynomorphs (NPP), plant macrofossils, macroscopic charcoal, diatoms, chironomids, cladocerans, testate amoebae, geochemical, and sedimentological proxies; 3/ 4/ reconstruction of paleoenvironmental changes and human-environment relationships for the last ca. 13,000 years
Research timeframe:
In 2017, a 13.5 m sediment core (called “ST T3”) was retrieved from the Serteya Mire basin using a 5 × 100 cm Instrof corer. 2022-2026 geological mapping, archaeological mapping, geochronometrical analysis, and multi-proxy palaeoecological studies

Research tools:
Geological mapping, archaeological mapping, geochronometrical analysis (14C dating, tephrochronology), and multi-proxy palaeoecological studies (pollen, non pollen palynomorphs (NPP), plant macrofossils, macroscopic charcoal, diatoms, chironomids, cladocerans, testate amoebae, geochemical, and sedimentological analyses)

Data organization structure:
- folder structure: file "Dataset_version_2.zip" (53 files with final reports, results, data sets), file "Dataset_version_1.zip" (14 files with preliminary data sets and results) 
- file naming system (with examples): code of studied core (“Serteya_ST_T3”)_analysis/data (eg. “Macro”)_type of data (eg. “report”)
- relationships and dependencies between files: all files independent 
- other interesting documentation files in the dataset (notes, accompanying files): description of archaeology of the area (“Archaeology_Serteya_reg.pdf”, “Arch_Stone_age_Serteya.docx”, “sites_diagrams_v8.png”), results of geological mapping (“Serteya_ST_T3_drill_geol_Report_2023.pdf”, “Serteya_ST_T3_drill_geol.bmp”, “Serteya_ST_T3_cross_sections.png”), core description (“Serteya_T3_C3_core_hor.pdf”), core chronology (“Serteya_ST_T3_C3_2026.png”)

Software used for data collection and processing, including version numbers: 
OpenOffice Libre Office v25, Microsoft® Word® for Microsoft 365, Microsoft® Excel® for Microsoft 365, CorelDRAW® 2020, C2, “riojaPlot” R package, Tilia, TGView, OxCal 4.4.

File formats used in the dataset and recommended software: 
.bmp - Microsoft® Photos®
.csv – OpenOffice Libre Office v25
.doc - Microsoft® Word® for Microsoft 365
.docx - Microsoft® Word® for Microsoft 365
.jpg - Microsoft® Photos®
.pdf – AcrobatReader
.png - Microsoft® Photos®
.xlsx – Microsoft® Excel® for Microsoft 365

Quality control procedures used: Quality control of geological and palaeoecological data based on the verification of chronological relationships between individual research entities. The quality of the field data based on the assessment of the correctness of photographic, drawing, descriptive and measuring documentation. Quality control of specialised analyses carried out in accordance with the procedures in force in individual laboratories.

Dataset change log: data prepared for sharing on 2026/06/08

License under which the data is made available: CC0