Palaeogeographic Model for the SW Estonian Coastal Zone of the Baltic Sea - The Baltic Sea Basin - page 183

oldest known human occupation in Estonia and has been dated to between 11,300
and 10,200 cal. years BP (Kriiska and Lõugas 2009 ) . Recent AMS dates of eco-
facts from the cultural layer suggest that the Pulli settlement site was most probably
inhabited slightly later, during the Ancylus Lake transgression period, at about
10,800-10,200 cal. years BP (Table 8.1 ; Fig. 8.3 ) . If one considers the AMS mean
age of the cultural layer (10,500 cal. years BP), the Pulli people settled at about
10 km from the coast, on the lower reaches of the ancient Pärnu River (Fig. 8.7d ) .
However, over the next 200-300 years the coastline was displaced quickly towards
the mainland due to the rapid transgression that took place at that time (Fig. 8.3 ) .
The water-level change model shows that the transgressive waters of Ancylus Lake
passed the Pulli site at about 10,300-10,200 cal. years BP, just before the culmi-
nation of the transgression. Terrestrial conditions were interrupted in the Pulli and
other buried organic matter sites when the rising level of Ancylus Lake submerged
the area (Fig. 8.7e ) . Our palaeogeographic model shows that most buried organic
matter sites (Seliste, Kastna, Lõpe, Kõdu, Pulli, Urge and Pressi in Table 8.1 ) were
located directly in the coastal zone ( 1.5 m), probably in the storm surge zone,

of the transgressive Ancylus Lake, which might be explained by the good preser-
vation conditions in this zone due to the rapid burial (Fig. 8.7e ) . It is difficult to
estimate the total amplitude of the transgression, but considering the elevations of
pre-Ancylus Lake near-shore sand facies in Sindi-Lodja II and the highest coastal
landforms in the area, it is at least 12 m (Fig. 8.3 ) . However, the comparison of
the presented transgression amplitude with corresponding data from Blekinge in SE
Sweden (Ancylus Lake transgression from -15 to 5 m a.s.l.; Berglund et al. 2005 )
also leaves space for the lower pre-Ancylus Lake level (Fig. 8.1 ) .
Following the rapid regression of Ancylus Lake due to lake drainage into the
Kattegat (Björck 1995 , Bennike et al. 2004 ) the land was exposed and allowed the
formation of peat deposits in the area. The organic sedimentation between the trans-
gressions of Ancylus Lake and the Littorina Sea occurred at minimum altitudes to
about -5 m a.s.l. (Uku and Reiu sites). Water level dropped at least 12 m in the Pärnu
area during the regression, as shown by the elevation of the lowermost pre-Littorina
Sea organic layers at Paikuse and Sindi-Lodja (Fig. 8.3 ) . The fall in water level dur-
ing the regression in isostatically similar areas in Narva and Blekinge (Fig. 8.1 ) was
about 11-9 m (from 12-10 to 1 m a.s.l.; Lepland et al. 1996 ) and 5.5 m (from 5
to -0.5 m a.s.l.; Berglund et al. 2005 ) , respectively. This shows that a hypothetical
fall in water level to -5 m a.s.l (Fig. 8.3 ) is rather unlikely in the Pärnu area, and
the question of the origin of the Uku and Reiu peat layers below present sea level
remains open. Relocation along the palaeo-Pärnu River valley is suspected to have
transported the Uku and Reiu organic layers to a deeper location than that supported
by the model. Further investigations are needed to clarify the origin of these peat
layers and to discuss their relation with the history of Baltic Sea basin water-level
change.
The next footprints of ancient human activity originating from the Sindi-Lodja I
and II settlement sites have been dated to 9,300-8,400 cal. years BP (Kriiska and
Lõugas 2009 ) . A single AMS date of charcoal from the cultural layer suggests that
Sindi-Lodja settlement sites were most probably inhabited during the pre-Littorina

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