Аннотация:The paleopedological study of archaeological monuments (burial mounds) of the Early Iron Age (from the first to the fourth century AD, the Sarmat culture) and Medieval epoch (the 13th and 14th centuries AD, the Golden Horde period) in the southeast of the Russian Plain was performed. The study area belongs to the semidesert zone with light chestnut soils. Morphogenetic analysis of soil profiles of different ages was supplemented by the determination of the composition of humic substances and the isotopic composition of carbon and oxygen in pedogenic carbonates and organic matter. Such a multiple approach enabled us to reveal the regularities of soil formation in the region during the Late Holocene and to establish the main trends in the dynamics of zonal boundaries during the last 2500 years. Paleopedological data served as the basis for the reconstruction of paleoclimatic conditions in the region during the Early Iron and Middle ages.