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The age of the Kaali meteorite craters and the effect of the impact on the environment and man: evidence from inside the Kaali craters, island of Saaremaa, Estonia

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Abstract

The Kaali meteorite impact crater field, which consists of a 110 m diameter main crater and eight satellite craters on the island of Saaremaa, Estonia is a unique object as its meteoritic origin is well proven, it lies in a densely populated area and fell in the relatively recent past. The precise age of the impact that generated the craters is still disputed. We investigated the basal sediment section from the main crater lake, Kaali järv, consisting of crushed and in-washed dolomite diamiction. AMS dating of terrestrial macrofossils from these sediment layers places the age of the impact at 1690−1510 B.C. The age is about 1000 years older than revealed from the impact marker-horizon in a contemporaneous peat sequence 6 km northwest of the Kaali crater. The pollen, diatom and chemical data suggest the instant formation of a shallow hard-water lake environment in the main crater depression after the impact, and a rapid post-impact sedimentation of crushed dolomite dust. Archaeological evidence on the crater slopes points to human activity around 700–200 B.C., indicating that the crater ring wall was inhabited by Bronze Age people soon after the impact event, and the structure of the main crater is mimicked in nearby archaeological sites.

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Notes

  1. AI – Archaeological collections of the Institute of History, Tallinn.

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Acknowledgements

The research was supported by Estonian Target Financing HM0331758s01, HM0182557s03 and Estonian Science Foundation grant 4963. We thank K.-E. Behre, U. Miller and an anonymous reviewer for their constructive reviews.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geology, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia pst. 7, 10143 , Tallinn, Estonia

    Siim Veski, Atko Heinsalu & Ülo Kestlane

  2. Chair of Archaeology, University of Tartu, Lossi 3, 50090, Tartu, Estonia

    Valter Lang

  3. Division of Ion Physics, Uppsala University, Box 534, SE-751 21, Uppsala, Sweden

    Göran Possnert

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  1. Siim Veski
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  2. Atko Heinsalu
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  3. Valter Lang
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  4. Ülo Kestlane
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Correspondence to Siim Veski.

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Veski, S., Heinsalu, A., Lang, V. et al. The age of the Kaali meteorite craters and the effect of the impact on the environment and man: evidence from inside the Kaali craters, island of Saaremaa, Estonia. Veget Hist Archaeobot 13, 197–206 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-004-0043-x

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