Negative Effects of Late Bronze Age Human Activity on Modern Soils and Landscapes, a Case-study on the Muradymovo Settlement, Urals, Russia

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12940318
AutoresAlexandra Golyeva (0000-0002-4392-0339, Institute of Geography, autor de correspondencia), O S Khokhlova (0000-0002-8989-9395, Institute of Physical-Chemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science), N B Shcherbakov (0000-0001-7731-7178, M. Akmullah Bashkir State Pedagogical University), Ия Шутелева (0000-0002-6852-5415, M. Akmullah Bashkir State Pedagogical University)
Año2016
Volumen7
Número2/2016
Páginas169-178
Fecha de publicación2016-12-31
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInterdisciplinaria Archaeologica - Natural Sciences in Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1804-848X • E-ISSN: 2336-1220
EditorialArcheologické centrum Olomouc (PUBLISHER • CZ)
DOI10.24916/iansa.2016.2.2
OpenAlexW2606967853
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas9

The study site is the Late Bronze Age (1750-1350 BC cal) settlement of Muradymovo located in the Urals, Russia (535844.8 N, 553058.8 E). Despite the presence of a humid climate, the modern soils of the study site contain more than 27% of gypsum at a depth of just 10 cm from the surface and have a microrelief typical of a gypsum desert. The nearby background Chernozems are gypsum-free to a depth of 2 metres. The ancient people of the "Srubno-Alakul" archaeological culture had a tradition of building their houses from gypsum rock. This is an excellent construction material in dry climates, but dissolves quickly under humid conditions. According to the archaeological data, the ancient people rebuilt their houses more than five times within a period of 200 years, thereby bringing a lot of gypsum to this site, which was later abandoned. At the present time, this area is still unsuitable for human settlement, because the water of the nearest small river is still contaminated by gypsum and has a bitter taste. The properties of modern soils directly affected by Late Bronze Age human activities have been identified as a result of our studies on soil morphology and chemistry (pH, Corg., P tot , gypsum and calcium carbonate concentrations). Remarkably, there is residual soil contamination by gypsum even after 3,500 years since the abandonment of the site

Archaeology · Bronze · Bronze Age · Geography · Gypsum · Period (music · Settlement (finance · Soil water · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Soil and Environmental Studies · Geology · Paleontology · Soil Science