A New AMS 14C-dated Holocene Caspian Sea-level Curve

New data on Holocene Caspian sea level change are presented from the Volga delta in Russia, the Kura in Azerbaijan and the Turali barrier coast in Dagestan. The oldest AMS 14C data from several drillings in the Volga delta suggest a lowstand around 8000 BP, in harmony with earlier data obtained by conventional methods. Volga delta data suggest a continuously rising sea level between 5000 and 3000 BP until a highstand is reached at -25 m around 2600 BP, as documented in the Dagestan barrier coast corresponding with the well-known cool and humid period at the start of the Subatlanticum. The historically well-known mediaeval Derbent regression down to -34 m, and possibly even -45 m, is recorded in the deeper parts of the offshore Kura delta in Azerbaijan, coinciding with the Warm Mediaeval Period, and a second highstand in the Little Ice Age is documented in the outermost barrier in Dagestan. Our data corroborate a correlation of Caspian Sea Level with changes in solar activity.