Pedology (Soil)

ARTICLES

Anikeeva O.V., Kolganova G.Yu.
Jewellery from Burial 2 Kurgan 1 Filippovka 1 Cemetery: Manufacturing Techniques, Purpose and Semantics of Images
https://nav.jvolsu.com/index.php/en/archive-en/621-2020-vol-19-no-1/articles/1605-anikeeva-o-v-kolganova-g-yu-jewellery-from-burial-2-kurgan-1-filippovka-1-cemetery-manufacturing-techniques-purpose-and-semantics-of-images

Okorokov K.S., Perevodchikova E.V.
The 2013 Finds in the Context of the Animal Style of the Kurgan 1 of the Necropolis Filippovka 1
https://nav.jvolsu.com/index.php/ru/archive-ru/618-2020-tom-19-1/stati/1589-anikeeva-o-v-kolganova-g-yu-yuvelirnoe-izdelie-iz-pogrebeniya-2-kurgana-1-mogilnika-filippovka-1-tekhnika-izgotovleniya-naznachenie-i-semantika-obrazov


Kuznetsova T.M. To the Question of the So Called Sauromatic Mirror from the Oguz Kurgan
https://nav.jvolsu.com/index.php/en/archive-en/621-2020-vol-19-no-1/articles/1607-kuznetsova-t-m-to-the-question-of-the-so-called-sauromatic-mirror-from-the-oguz-kurgan

Sinika V.S., Lysenko S.D., Razumov S.N., Telnov N.P., Łukasik S.
Barrow 11 of the “Garden” Group in the Lower Dniester Region and Contemporary “Mythmaking” About Scythian “Amazons”
https://nav.jvolsu.com/index.php/en/archive-en/621-2020-vol-19-no-1/articles/1608-sinika-v-s-lysenko-s-d-razumov-s-n-telnov-n-p-ukasik-s-barrow-11-of-the-garden-group-in-the-lower-dniester-region-and-contemporary-mythmaking-about-scythian-amazons

Sirotin S.V.
Arched Objects (Noseband) as Part of a Horse Harness of the Early Nomads of the Southern Urals
https://nav.jvolsu.com/index.php/en/archive-en/621-2020-vol-19-no-1/articles/1609-sirotin-s-v-arched-objects-noseband-as-part-of-a-horse-harness-of-the-early-nomads-of-the-southern-urals

Plekhanova L.N., Kashirskaya N.N., Syrovatko A.S.
Cellulosolitic Microorganisms Activity as an Indicator of Details Funeral Ceremony
https://nav.jvolsu.com/index.php/en/archive-en/621-2020-vol-19-no-1/articles/1610-plekhanova-l-n-kashirskaya-n-n-syrovatko-a-s-cellulosolitic-microorganisms-activity-as-an-indicator-of-details-funeral-ceremony

Kitov E.P., Grigorev A.P.
Paleoanthropological Characteristics of the Early Sarmatian Population of Emba Basin River According to the Data from Mortyk I Cemetery
https://nav.jvolsu.com/index.php/en/archive-en/621-2020-vol-19-no-1/articles/1611-kitov-e-p-grigorev-a-p-paleoanthropological-characteristics-of-the-early-sarmatian-population-of-emba-basin-river-according-to-the-data-from-mortyk-i-cemetery-paleoanthropological-characteristics-of-the-early-sarmatian-population-of-emba-basin-river-accor

Savelev N.S., Nikolaev S.Yu.
Sarmatian Dagger Complex from the Surrounding Area the Village Tolbazy in the Southern Urals
https://nav.jvolsu.com/index.php/en/archive-en/621-2020-vol-19-no-1/articles/1612-savelev-n-s-nikolaev-s-yu-sarmatian-dagger-complex-from-the-surrounding-area-the-village-tolbazy-in-the-southern-urals

Remizov S.O.
Investigation of the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Sites in the Don Basin on the Territory of Volgograd Region
https://nav.jvolsu.com/index.php/en/archive-en/621-2020-vol-19-no-1/articles/1613-remizov-s-o-investigation-of-the-palaeolithic-and-mesolithic-sites-in-the-don-basin-on-the-territory-of-volgograd-region

Khomutova T.E., Dushchanova K.S., Borisov A.V.
Microbiological Approach to Reconstruction of the Original Content of Pots from the Burials
https://nav.jvolsu.com/index.php/en/archive-en/621-2020-vol-19-no-1/articles/1614-khomutova-t-e-dushchanova-k-s-borisov-a-v-microbiological-approach-to-reconstruction-of-the-original-content-of-pots-from-the-burials

Yavorskaya L.V.
New Data on the Role of Madzhar in Golden Horde Trade of Skin and Leather Products Archeozoological Aspect
https://nav.jvolsu.com/index.php/en/archive-en/621-2020-vol-19-no-1/articles/1615-yavorskaya-l-v-new-data-on-the-role-of-madzhar-in-golden-horde-trade-of-skin-and-leather-products-archeozoological-aspect

Boldyreva E.M., Vasilyev D.V., Zilivinskaya E.D.
Yurta-Shaped Dwellings and Buildings of the X-XII Centuries in Samosdelka Hillfort
https://nav.jvolsu.com/index.php/en/archive-en/621-2020-vol-19-no-1/articles/1616-boldyreva-e-m-vasilyev-d-v-zilivinskaya-e-d-yurta-shaped-dwellings-and-buildings-of-the-x-xii-centuries-in-samosdelka-hillfort

PUBLICATIONS

Otcherednoy A.K., Remizov S.O., Stepanova K.N., Eltsov M.V., Voskresenskaya E.V., Vishnyatsky L.B., Nehoroshev P.E., Bloсhin E.K., Titov V.V., Kolesnik A.V.
Middle Paleolithic Site Sukhaya Mechёtka: the Renewal of Complex Investigations
https://nav.jvolsu.com/index.php/en/archive-en/622-2020-vol-19-no-1/publications/1617-otcherednoy-a-k-remizov-s-o-stepanova-k-n-eltsov-m-v-voskresenskaya-e-v-vishnyatsky-l-b-nehoroshev-p-e-bloshin-e-k-titov-v-v-kolesnik-a-v-middle-paleolithic-site-sukhaya-mechjotka-the-renewal-of-complex-investigations

Nechvaloda A.I.
Craniological Materials of the Late Bronze Age from the Berezovsky V Kurgan Cemetery in the Trans Urals
https://nav.jvolsu.com/index.php/en/archive-en/622-2020-vol-19-no-1/publications/1618-nechvaloda-a-i-craniological-materials-of-the-late-bronze-age-from-the-berezovsky-v-kurgan-cemetery-in-the-trans-urals

Beisenov A.Z., Shashenov D.T.
Tasmola Kurgans in Aiyrtas Valley in Central Kazakhstan
https://nav.jvolsu.com/index.php/en/archive-en/622-2020-vol-19-no-1/publications/1619-beisenov-a-z-shashenov-d-t-tasmola-kurgans-in-aiyrtas-valley-in-central-kazakhstan

Eltsov M.V.
Pedoarcheological Research of the Zhayyk-1 Kurgan
https://nav.jvolsu.com/index.php/en/archive-en/622-2020-vol-19-no-1/publications/1620-eltsov-m-v-pedoarcheological-research-of-the-zhayyk-1-kurgan

To an archaeologist conducting field walking surveys in a Mediterranean landscape it is impossible not to notice the geographical and geological contexts of the surface archaeological remains. Patterns of soil colour and variations in soil texture across fields seem to correlate in some as yet indefinite manner with the density and quality of the archaeological finds. Driving through a study area, dips in the road indicate that entire slopes are on the move albeit slowly; one encounters the occasional extreme and dramatic example of erosion after a drenching rain has cut a gully, washed away a culvert, or put rock falls in the path of the car. In the modern landscape, farmers may be the most visible agents of change but all the while natural processes modify the earth’s land surface – slowly and episodically but with major effect over time. To an archaeologist attempting to understand the meaning of the archaeological record constructed with so much effort for a given study area, a thorough understanding of these anthropogenic and natural processes is crucial.
Evidence of anthropogenic processes affecting the archaeological record in the Raganello Basin is plentiful, two of the more potent being the construction of agricultural terraces and the ploughing of arable fields. Terrace construction is an important feature of Mediterranean agricultural regimes and may well date back to the Bronze Age, but the vast majority of terraces now in evidence are likely to date to much more recent (Classical and modern) episodes of agricultural expansion. Their construction changes the preceding slope profile, preserving older soil surfaces in some locations and destroying them in others. Ploughing, especially after the mechanization of agriculture in the 1970s, reinforced these effects.
One thing we could learn is to describe the relevant processes and characteristics in a systematic and sufficiently detailed manner. Soil scientists can systematically describe soil types, but also how and why specific soils locally deviate from these types, and what this tells us about the post-depositional history and current state of any archaeological remains in those soils. Geomorphologists are used to studying and describing geomorphological processes and their resulting landforms in a systematic manner, albeit at spatial and temporal scales that are generally too coarse for archaeological purposes. But this is just a difference of degree, not of principle. Could we not extend earth scientists’ methods of studying the earth’s surface to scales relevant to the questions that interest archaeologists – down to the individual archaeological site and the lifetime of individuals?
Past ‘geoarchaeological’ studies in the context of landscape archaeological research programs have tended to be piecemeal rather than systematic – aimed at understanding specific local situations of interest to the archaeologist directing the project – or were aimed at reconstructing the long-term evolution of particular systems such as coastlines or rivers. This is not sufficient: in modern landscape archaeological projects we want to know how earth surface processes affected the archaeological record everywhere, and in as much detail as possible. Luckily we do not need to study all locations in detail because many parts of the landscape have sufficiently homogeneous characteristics for us to make good inferences on the basis of well-studied sample locations!
In this RLP report by den Haan and Sevink, extensive information is provided on the soils and soil landscapes of the Raganello river catchment. This information forms an important background by describing and quantifying the effects of slope processes occurring on typical slopes of the main landscape units in the Raganello Basin; helping to understand how the formation of agricultural terraces and other sediment traps has affected the archaeological record; and helping to distinguish anthropogenic from natural near-surface geophysical anomalies, so that the latter can be excluded from further study. It also provides a thorough introduction into the history and development of the soils and landscapes of this Raganello catchment, including its various earth surface (geomorphological and soil formation) processes, whether natural or anthropogenic. This forms the basis for identification and quantification of anthropogenic impacts on the original – natural – soils and landscapes, and for discrimination between natural and anthropogenic materials and layers in archaeological sites and sections, in the range of Mediterranean landscape types encountered in the Raganello catchment.

The Punakaiki Coastal Restoration Project (PCRP) is a case study in partnership and collaboration, which outlines how a consultative approach to mine closure can deliver shared benefits and create new endeavors that advance conservation, knowledge of biodiversity, and a broader understanding of the role of multi-sector partnerships. In 2000, Rio Tinto acquired 114 ha of coastal land at Punakaiki on New Zealand's South Island that had been the focus of a proposed mineral sand development, culminating in pilot-scale mining and processing by Westland Ilmenite Limited (WIL, part of North Ltd.), in the early 1990s. The site had been in care and maintenance from 1994. Rio Tinto instigated a process to ensure its approach to post-closure was developed and managed to meet its goal of contributing to sustainable development. Though much of the land has been cleared for pasture, the area is of high conservation value. The Punakaiki Coastal Restoration Project (PCRP) was established in 2009 to enhance the revegetation of the sand plain forest on land adjacent to the Nikau Scenic Reserve that had been previously mined and farmed. To develop and test the indicators of restoration success, we performed interdisciplinary research in a) floral and faunal inventories and monitoring to determine characteristics of forest and disturbed environments at the species and community level, with a focus on the transition of these characteristics during restoration; b) pedology and soil chemical analysis was completed to identify potential variables that may influence the restoration of floral and faunal communities at the site. Seven transects were established across the site: each comprising 3 monitoring plots (mature forest, unplanted and restored). Several significant ecological indicators were identified across these three monitoring plots. The future trajectory of restoration success will be determined by canopy closure and subsequent colonisation and recruitment of additional species, with epiphytes and plant associations being particularly critical. Soil profile pits were dug in each plot (21 in total) and the soil profile was described and sampled for chemical analyses. This monitoring and interdisciplinary research programme has informed the restoration process on its trajectory from post-mining to farmed pasture to mature forest, beyond the initial establishment of 130,000 trees for 5 years. A multi-dimensional approach linking changing soil, vegetation and faunal communities, beyond a base-line survey and onward monitoring, provides an example of the best practice in restoration ecology. Future management of this site presents an opportunity to develop ecological, educational, and recreational values which are potentially beneficial to the local community through tourism. This research signals a paradigm shift in creative conservation through integrative restoration ecology that includes the floristic, faunal, geological and pedological components. This approach is readily transferable and could constitute a new standard for the next generation of restoration projects and national parks.

Latest Pleistocene fossil soils and deposits have been described in the geoarchaeological site Divnogorie 9 (the Middle Don drainage basin) under the name of Divnogorie pedolithocomplex. For the first time, a soil-sediment series with 2-3 levels of soil formation has been described in the forest-steppe of the Russian Plain and dated to the Bølling-Allerød interval (BØ-AL). That was the last soil formation of Pre-Holocene time. The soils are weakly developed (immature), of meadow and burozem genesis. They formed for a few hundreds of years in periglacial steppe environments, under forest-steppe vegetation. The lower soil (attributed to Bølling) is dated at 13.5-14 ka cal BP and defined as a weakly developed Petrocalcic Skeletic Colluvic Siltic Chernozem. Under coniferous-broadleaf forests the middle soil is described as Umric Calcaric Colluvic Siltic Leptosol and dated at Dryas-2. The uppermost soil dated at Allerød is weakly developed Skeletic Calcaric Colluvic Siltic Cambisol formed under coniferous-broadleaf forest-steppe. The data obtained made possible reconstructions of the Late Glacial climates and landscapes. The underlying sediments are the deposits of Divnogorie paleo-lake. The deposits include seven bone-bearing horizons with Late Upper Palaeolithic lithic tools. They are dated to the interval 17-14 ka Cal BP.

O aumento populacional e das práticas agrícolas, cada vez mais intensivas, faz crescer a necessidade de levantamentos de solos mais detalhados no Brasil e no mundo, visando o melhor planejamento e monitoramento da exploração dos recursos naturais, a fim de se reduzir os impactos ambientais produzidos pelas diversas atividades desenvolvidas. No Brasil, entre os anos 1970 e 1980, os levantamentos de solos tiveram maior ênfase, porém, dada às limitações metodológicas da época, foram elaborados em escalas de pouco detalhamento. Deste então, novas técnicas vêm sendo desenvolvidas para potencializar as atividades de mapeamentos pedológicos convencionais. Metodologias envolvendo sensoriamento remoto e técnicas quantitativas para predição da distribuição espacial das classes pedológicas, bem como de seus atributos, têm colocado o mapeamento digital de solos em posição de destaque na realização desta atividade. A principal fonte de informações pedológicas do Distrito Federal (DF) foi elaborada em escala de 1:100.000, pela Embrapa em 1978. Diante das dificuldades apresentadas por material cartográfico realizados em escalas menores, o qual a escassez de detalhes provoca generalizações indevidas sobre a utilização dos solos da região, levantamentos de solos com maior riqueza de informações são imprescindíveis. Este panorama reflete o objetivo geral deste trabalho, que foi mapear classes de solos da microbacia do Ribeirão Extrema (MBRE), no DF, por meio de técnicas de sensoriamento remoto, por meio de extrapolação de biblioteca espectral de solos (BES) disponível em uma microbacia contígua à proposta para esse estudo. Atividades de campo permitiram a avaliação da distribuição dos solos, por meio de relações pedomorfogeológicas, na microbacia detentora da biblioteca espectral de solos e da microbacia deste estudo. Em função da semelhança das feições geomorfológicas e ocorrência de unidades geológicas, a distribuição de solos da MBRE foi considerada muito similar à da microbacia com BES. Análises morfológicas, físicas, químicas e espectroscópicas foram realizadas para as classes de solos de ocorrência em ambas as microbacias e somadas às demais classes de ocorrência restrita na MBRE. As curvas espectrais foram associadas gerando a BES
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da MBRE, DF. Para o mapeamento digital dos solos foi utilizada uma imagem composta elaborada a partir das imagens do sensor ASTER de solos expostos de uma série multitemporal entre anos 2001, 2004 e 2006. Mediante a utilização do algoritmo Multiple Endmember Spectral Mixture Analysis – MESMA, a Biblioteca Espectral gerada, juntamente com a imagem composta dos solos expostos da área estudada, foi submetida à processamentos digitais com utilização de técnicas de análises espectrais, gerando-se o mapa digital de solos da microbacia do Ribeirão Extrema, DF, o qual foi avaliado pelo índice Kappa como de boa qualidade.

Geoarchaeological methods were used to study chronosequences of surface soils in the steppe zone and to trace soil evolution during the Late Holocene in northwestern Crimea. It was found that the morphological and functional “maturity” of the humus horizons in steppe chernozems of the Late Holocene was reached in about 1600–1800 yrs. After this, their development decelerated irreversibly. The maximum concentration of trace elements accumulated in these horizons in the course of pedogenesis was reached in 1400 yrs. A new method of pedogenetic chronology based on the model chronofunction of the development of irreversible results of pedogenesis over time is suggested. Original pedochronological data and growth functions—the most suitable models for simulating pedogenesis over the past three thousand years—suggest that the development of morphological features of soil as an organomineral natural body follows growth patterns established for biological systems.

The environmental conditions of the evolution of chernozems in Central Europe have not been satisfactory
explained. In this paper, seven buried chernozems were investigated using near-infrared spectroscopy
(NIRS) in order to get information about the former vegetation cover. Near-infrared (NIR) data
were collected from organic matter of recent natural grasslands and forests. The spectra from these two
groups of soils were perfectly discriminated by a multivariate statistical analysis. The statistical model
was applied on the buried soils. There are four types of vegetation development within the chernozems
before the burial. Comparison to other paleoenvironmental proxies shows no major contradiction and
confirms the potential of the NIRS as a paleopedological proxy. The identified changes of vegetation are
from grassland vegetation to forest vegetation and vice versa. These changes bring new data to the
discussion about the pedogenesis of chernozems. According to the radiocarbon dating, buried soils
developed and were preserved not only in the Preboreal and the Boreal, but also in later phases of the
Holocene.

X-ray micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) scans were conducted on impregnated sediment blocks from the early Holocene rockshelter site of Lapa do Santo, East-Central Brazil. The analysis was designed to investigate the presence of termite mound fragments in the archaeological sediments and test the value of complementary techniques in micromorphological studies. Soil feeding termites have been common in the tropical soils of Central Brazil since the Paleogene/Neogene and exist in high concentrations in the surroundings of Lapa do Santo. The micro-CT scans revealed a distinctive spongy microstructure inside some of the clay aggregates in the sediments that are not visible in thin section, matching the spongy microstructure inside termite mound fragments. The microstructure consists of a mix of clay and organic material (feces, saliva and other body fluids) produced by termites to cement the mounds' matrix. The cements are undistinguishable from the matrix under the microscope, but clearly visible in the micro-CT scans given the low attenuation coefficient of organo-mineral matter. The termite mound fragments appear dispersed within the ashy matrix (made of intact and reworked combustion features), suggesting their possible use in earth ovens. The combination of combustion features and reworked earth ovens attests to the complex input of anthropogenic sediments in the formation of Lapa do Santo. This study demonstrates that micro-CT can potentially disclose materials not visible in thin section and can be utilized as a complementary technique to micromorphology.

los modelos pedogenéticos, son formas de representar la evolución de los suelos. se presenta una colección de esquemas utilizados por varios autores, como elemento introductorio a la decodificación de la taxonomía de suelos que adelanto en los ratos libres.

Site 3–6 in Ruda, Grudziądz district, is situated in southern part of the Grudziądz Basin, just at the foot of the brink of Vistula Valley, on the flat, vast headland, sloping towards the river. The motorway Investigations Team at the Institute of Archaeology Nicolas Copernic University, during their research in years 2000–2002, found some evidence of settlement that had existed there in the later Bronze Age and the early Iron Age. The site of the Lusatian Urnfield Culture included remains of homesteads composed of dwellings of different purpose as well as pits of various functions. Archaeological material from the site is represented by abundant set of ceramic dishes fragments, dishes and ornaments of bronze and first found in Chełmno Land metallurgical clay casting moulds as well as tools of stone and flint. Numerous and diverse set of collected plants, cereals, weeds and carbonised remains of various timber species
have been discovered in number of pits. Pieces of domestic and wild animal bones and mollusc shells represent are also known from the site. The use of animals and plants is represented by biogenic materials discovered in cultural layers. Soil samples, analysed with regard to phosphorus content, present diverse values of that element in pits. Archaeological finds together botanical and zoological evidence provide a unique opportunity for interpretation of economy, spatial settlement organisation and farming characteristic for the Lusatian Urnfield Culture communities.

The study was carried to determine the mineralogy of soils of different geomorphic units for providing the more detailed information needed to improve agricultural production in northeastern part of Haryana. The soils of the study area were slightly acidic to strongly alkaline in reaction (6-9.4). The cation exchange capacity and electrical conductivity varied from 3.10-26.80 cmol (+) kg-1 and 0.16-1.20 dSm-1 , respectively. In general, the soils were siliceous in nature with SiO 2 ranging from 68.60 to 87.90 percent. The soil samples from surface and subsurface diagnostic horizons were studied through X-ray diffraction. In fine sand, quartz was the dominant mineral followed by feldspars, muscovite, hornblende, tourmaline, zircon, biotite, iron ores and sphene. In silt fraction, quartz was the dominant mineral followed by mica, feldspars, chlorite, kaolinite, interstratified and traces of smectite and vermicu-lite. Semi-quantitative estimation of clay fraction indicated that illite was the single dominant mineral in the clay fraction of these pedons, however, its quantity was less in alluvial plains (28-30 %) compared to Shiwalik hills (36-49 %). Next to illite, a high amount of smectite (14-20 %) and vermiculite (11-17 %) were observed in clays of alluvial plains of Ghaggar (recent and old) whereas in Shiwalik hills (top and valley) these minerals were detected in small amount (6-11 %). Fairly good amount of kaolinite (10-17 %) and small amount of chlorite (4-11 %) were uniformly distributed in soil clays irrespective of geomorphic units showing their detrital origin. Medium intensity broad peaks in higher range diffractograms (14-24 A˚) indicated the presence of regular and irregular interstratified minerals in old alluvial plains of Ghaggar.