An integrated study of Dark Earth from the alluvial valley of the Senne river (Brussels, Belgium)

Devos, Yannick; Nicosia, Cristiano; Vrydaghs, Luc; Speleers, Lien; Valk, Jan van der; Marinova, Elena; Claes, Britt; Albert, Rosa M.; Esteban, Irene; Ball, T. Blake; Court-Picon, Mona; Degraeve, Ann

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2016.06.025

Cited by 34 publications

(32 citation statements)

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“…The fact that the phytolith record is limited to grasses is intriguing and does not necessarily correlate with its identification as a garden/backyard. A comparable spectrum has, however, also been observed for a historically documented garden layer (Devos, Nicosia, et al, ) and a backyard/garden deposit (Devos et al, ) in Brussels. However, hay could have been added to the surface as part of other activities (see Section 5).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 60%

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An integrated micromorphological and phytolith study of urban soils and sediments from the Gallo‐Roman town Atuatuca Tungrorum, Belgium

et al. 2019

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Tongeren is the only Roman administrative capital within the borders of present‐day Belgium. It developed in the first century A.D. and became an important civitas. Many excavations in the center of town have uncovered complex stratigraphic sequences, including dark earths, dating to Roman as well as early medieval times. Their interpretation, based on traditional archaeological methods, often remains problematic. A large‐scale excavation at Vermeulenstraat in 2014 is the first occasion where a geoarchaeological study was conducted using both micromorphology and the study of phytoliths in thin sections. The aim was to evaluate the impact of depositional and post‐depositional processes, to gain an understanding of the formation of the dark earths encountered on the site, to characterize the deposits between and underneath them, and to identify and differentiate human activities and natural phenomena. The results show a range of different activities and events, such as cultivation, construction (including floor preparation), destruction, waste dumping, and gardening. Their different formation histories illustrate the evolution of the area, and their analysis provides an important precedent for the further geoarchaeological study of this town.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 60%

“…An additional input of colluvium, though not firmly attested, cannot be excluded. The importance of the latter has been recognized on a series of dark earths in Brussels (Devos et al, , ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An integrated micromorphological and phytolith study of urban soils and sediments from the Gallo‐Roman town Atuatuca Tungrorum, Belgium

et al. 2019

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“…Dung alleys show high near total and inorganic phosphorus values compared to cropfields. These can be connected to the high concentration of coprolitic and plant remains observed in thin section (Table ; Devos et al., ). The relatively high organic phosphorus levels, which discriminate them from ash layers, probably originate from the observed plant remains.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…A total of 154 well‐identified units originating from 23 sites have been included in the database. Their identification relies on historical, archaeological, geoarchaeological, and archaeobotanical data (see Degré, ; Devos, ; ; ; Devos et al., ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; Fechner, ; ; Vrydaghs, Devos, Fechner, & Degraeve, ) (Figure ). Based on these identifications, the deposits are grouped into 12 categories (Table ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Near total and inorganic phosphorus concentrations as a proxy for identifying ancient activities in urban contexts: The example of dark earth in Brussels, Belgium

Devos

2017

Geoarchaeology

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Urban stratigraphy is characterized by complicated sequences resulting from many superimposed phases of human occupation and activity. Parts of these deposits are difficult to interpret solely based on field data. One typical example is “dark earth”: thick, dark‐colored, humic, homogeneous archaeological deposits covering large areas. The correct interpretation of dark earths requires a geoarchaeological approach that involves detailed micromorphological observations. The present article discusses the potential of applying near total and inorganic phosphorus analyses as a quick and relatively cheap method to obtain a preliminary characterization of such urban deposits. For the town of Brussels (Belgium), a large database of 12 types of well‐identified urban deposits was created. Despite a series of postdepositional processes that affected most of these urban deposits, significant differences in near total (Pnt), inorganic (Pi), organic (Po) phosphate levels, and/or Pnt/Pi, Pni/Po ratios were observed in most types of deposits, thus enabling the rapid characterization of dark earth deposits.

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Opal Phytoliths

Vrydaghs

Devos

Pető³

2017

Archaeological Soil and Sediment Micromorphology

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An integrated study of Dark Earth from the alluvial valley of the Senne river (Brussels, Belgium)

Cited by 34 publications

References 30 publications

An integrated micromorphological and phytolith study of urban soils and sediments from the Gallo‐Roman town Atuatuca Tungrorum, Belgium

An integrated micromorphological and phytolith study of urban soils and sediments from the Gallo‐Roman town Atuatuca Tungrorum, Belgium

Near total and inorganic phosphorus concentrations as a proxy for identifying ancient activities in urban contexts: The example of dark earth in Brussels, Belgium

Opal Phytoliths

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