Reading the urban margin
An integrated geoarchaeological case study of late medieval riverside formation in Oudenaarde, Belgium
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24233256 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Meihui Li (0009-0004-2665-2629), David Brönnimann (0000-0003-3432-1753), Christine Pümpin (0000-0003-2948-7011), Wouter De Maeyer, Karin Nys (0000-0001-6032-9439), Kristin Ismail‐Meyer (0000-0002-0398-6907), Yannick Devos (0000-0002-5315-1916) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 76 |
| Pages | 106117 |
| Publication date | 2026-12-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Archaeological Science Reports (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2352-409X • E-ISSN: 2352-4103 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.jasrep.2026.106117 |
| OpenAlex | W7221171516 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 35 |
Urban open and marginal spaces are often regarded as archaeologically “empty”, although their deposits may preserve detailed evidence of urban development. This study examines a fifteenth-century Urban Dark Earth sequence at Broodstraat, Oudenaarde, Belgium. Soil micromorphology, integrated with archaeological and historical evidence, identified nine phases of recurrent alluviation, detritual inputs by river and human action, incipient soil development, and various post-depositional changes. These phases indicate repeated periods of alluvial accumulation, surface exposure and relative stability rather than a single dumping event. Anthropogenic inputs were heterogeneous but generally limited, including construction debris and occasional domestic and excremental waste, while traces of human and animal activity suggest intermittent or restricted access. The area therefore appears to have functioned as a dynamic buffer zone or protected urban margin rather than an intensively used open space. The study demonstrates how micromorphology can reveal the complex formation history of apparently homogeneous urban deposits and refine interpretations of medieval urban margins.
Geoarchaeology · late medieval urbanism · Oudenaarde · riverside settlements · urban archaeology · urban periphery · Archaeological Research and Protection · Medieval Architecture and Archaeology · Soil and Environmental Studies
Why Archaeology Is Necessary for a Theory of Urbanization
Floor formation processes and the interpretation of site activity areas
An integrated study of Dark Earth from the alluvial valley of the Senne river (Brussels, Belgium)
Studying urban stratigraphy
Medieval markets
A soil micromorphological study on the origins of the early medieval trading centre of Antwerp (Belgium)
An Archaeological Foundation to Soil Sustainability
Empty’ space in Central European medieval towns through an interdisciplinary perspective
Short contribution
An integrated micromorphological and phytolith study of urban soils and sediments from the Gallo‐Roman town Atuatuca Tungrorum, Belgium
Do still waters run deep? Formation processes of natural and anthropogenic deposits in the Neolithic wetland site Zug‐Riedmatt (Switzerland)
Medieval D ark E arth in an Active Alluvial Setting from the U ffizi G allery Complex in F lorence, I taly
Urban geoarchaeology in Belgium
What Makes a Wasteland? A Contemporary Archaeology of Urban Waste Sites
The application of histomorphometry and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy to the analysis of early Anglo-Saxon burned bone
A statistical approach to the archaeological identification of crop processing
Characterising the use of urban space
Contextualising the dead – Combining geoarchaeology and osteo-anthropology in a new multi-focus approach in bone histotaphonomy
Measurements and Relationships of Diagenetic Alteration of Bone from Three Archaeological Sites
Life in the proto-urban style
Urban Open Spaces in Historical Perspective
The Archaeology of Emptiness? Understanding Open Urban Spaces in the Medieval World
Understanding late medieval farming practices
Decay of delicate organic remains in shallow urban deposits
Origins and Development of Urbanism
Urban empty spaces. Contentious places for consensus-building
| Highly cited | No |
|---|