A multi-proxy analysis of sandy soils in historical slash-and-burn sites: A case study from southern Estonia

Ponomarenko, Elena; Tomson, Pille; Ershova, Ekaterina; Bakumenko, Varvara O.

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2018.10.016

Cited by 25 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…In cultivated lands, the charcoal location has been affected in addition to the vertical soil mixing, also by horizontal soil movement. The ploughing and harrowing smoothened the originally uneven surface of the forest floor (Ponomarenko et al 2019) and the later ploughing level did not reach to charcoal that was buried in the initial micro-depression of the natural surface. Therefore, the larger fragments of charcoal were found at the bottom of the humus layer.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The charcoal was found mainly from old arable layers; the charcoal was scattered and located unevenly in light clusters or narrow layers. Ponomarenko et al (2019) registered 5-7 cm thick swidden layers and described uniformly distributed rounded charcoal fragments with a median diameter of 4-5 mm as characteristic of slash-and-burn cultivation at a documented swidden site in Estonia. Mechanical abrasion due to tillage is considered to rub and crush the charcoal Anderson 2013, Bobrovsky et al 2019); therefore, in fields that have been arable for a long time, only a small fraction of charcoal would be expected.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Forest soil charcoal and historical land use

2020

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Charcoal deposits in forest soils have been considered mainly in the context of wildfires. However, slash-and-burn cultivation has been widespread in Northern Europe until the beginning of the 20th century and extensive areas of former swiddens are now covered by forests. The study sites were in Karula National Park in Southern Estonia. 19th-century cadastral maps were used to identify the historical land use. Macroscopic (visible) charcoal was studied in 57 soil pits, located in historical slash-and-burn sites, forests, former arable fields, recent forest fire sites, and experimental slash-and-burn fields. The locations of charcoal in the soil profile were recorded. In four sites, the charcoal samples were dated. Charcoal is widespread in boreal forest soils. A considerable proportion of this could originate from historical slash-and-burn cultivation. The charcoal depth was related to agricultural land use duration and methods at different intensities. The location of the charcoal-rich layer reflected the historical cultivation best, though patchy spatial distribution and the evident translocation of charcoal from different fire events complicates the interpretation of the charcoal pattern. Not all translocation mechanisms have yet been explained.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forest soil charcoal and historical land use

2020

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“…Therefore, the case of agricultural fires should be considered. While surface fires such as the ones resulting from natural wildfires and the slash‐and‐burn practice tend not to lead to severe burning of the ground surface (Ehrmann et al, 2014; Ponomarenko et al, 2019; Schulz et al, 2014), more complex agricultural fire techniques such as paring and burning can result in a high temperature that would affect soil structure and mineralogy to a higher degree (Menbrivès et al, 2019). Because it involves soil surface extraction and firing within kiln‐like structures, this operation intentionally produces significant baking of the mineral soil fraction (Guiblais‐Starck et al, 2020; Jobbé‐Duval, et al, 2007; Nicolaï, 1961; Nzila, 1992).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, there remain many uncertainties about the impact and the extent of this practice on agricultural systems of past societies, namely, due to the problems of identification of burnt remains. (Aldeias, 2017; Canti & Linford, 2000; Guiblais‐Starck et al, 2020; Ponomarenko et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indurated soil nodules: A vestige of ancient agricultural practices?

et al. 2022

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The identification of controlled fires in ancient agricultural systems is important for understanding how past societies managed the landscape. Although the use of fire in agriculture is documented in recent historical records, and combustion markers can persist in soils over a long time scale, this is a complex issue because combustion traits in general are ubiquitous. Archaeopedological surveys undertaken in an ancient forest in Burgundy (France) have led to the recovery of several red indurated nodules scattered in the soils. Gallo-Roman housing structures and parcels were recognized using light detection and ranging mapping, stimulating questions about the understanding of the nature of these nodules. Elemental and structural analyses by X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the local origin of these features by comparing their composition with on-site sediments, and thermoluminescence dating placed the samples in the Medieval period. The results cast light on the nature of the nodules and how they can be related to controlled fires used in agricultural practices. Even though questions remain about which processes lead to the formation of the nodules, the firing temperature estimated via XRD analysis seems to be in agreement with that used in the "paring-and-burning" technique. The present study provides new information about medieval agriculture practices from the 10th to the 12th centuries CE and shows how past societies managed the opening and maintenance of agricultural fields using natural resources and "archaeological" remains from the antique period.

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“…Such horizons, marking the human exploitation including burning of formerly forested landscapes, have a worldwide occurrence. But they are, surprisingly, a rarely documented phenomenon both in prehistory and history (e.g., Alexandrovskiy, Ershova, Ponomarenko, Krenke, & Skripkin, ; Beach et al, ; Bishop et al, ; Certini & Scalenghe, ; Herrmann, ; Innes, Blackford, & Simmons, ; Kaal et al, ; Kaiser, Opgenoorth, Schoch, & Miehe, ; Ponomarenko, Tomson, Ershova, & Bakumenko, ; Portenga, Bishop, Gore, & Westaway, ; Williams, ). For the first time such horizons with in situ trees dating into the early to high medieval period could be demonstrated by means of our records for the central European uplands.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cut and covered: Subfossil trees in buried soils reflect medieval forest composition and exploitation of the central European uplands

et al. 2019

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Knowledge of historic changes in vegetation, relief, and soil is key in understanding how the uplands in central Europe have changed during the last millennium, being an essential requirement for measures on forest conversion and nature conservation in that area. Evidence of forest‐clearing horizons from the medieval period could be systematically documented at four low‐ to mid‐altitudinal sites (360–640 meters above mean sea level) in the Harz (Harz Mountains), Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains), and Českomoravská vrchovina (Bohemian‐Moravian Highlands). Subfossil trees with traces of human cutmarks and burning were recovered from buried wet‐organic soils (paleosols) within a context of mining and settlement archaeology, applying a multiproxy‐approach by using data from archaeology, paleobotany, geochronology, dendrochronology, and pedology. Tree stumps and trunks, as well as small‐scale wood remains represent an in situ record of local conifer stands (spruce, fir, and pine). Some deciduous tree taxa also occur. Dating of the tree remains yielded ages from the 10th/11th to the 13th/14th centuries A.D. After deforestation, the tree remains were buried by technogenic and alluvial–colluvial deposits. The reconstructed conifer‐dominated woodlands on wet soils mirror the local vegetation structure immediately before the medieval deforestation. As such wet sites are common in the uplands, conifers were significantly present in the natural vegetation even at mid and lower altitudes.

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A multi-proxy analysis of sandy soils in historical slash-and-burn sites: A case study from southern Estonia

Cited by 25 publications

References 17 publications

Forest soil charcoal and historical land use

Forest soil charcoal and historical land use

Indurated soil nodules: A vestige of ancient agricultural practices?

Cut and covered: Subfossil trees in buried soils reflect medieval forest composition and exploitation of the central European uplands

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