Ancient Irrigated Soils of the Bozok Archaeological District, Northern Kazakhstan (11th to 12th Centuries)

Abstract

Results of an interdisciplinary (archaeological and pedological) study of the ancient soils in the Bozok district (8th to 15th centuries) are presented. Part of the district is a complex irrigation system dating to the 11th to 12th centuries. To detect the traces of ancient irrigation, surface and buried soils were studied. Results of the morphogenetic analysis, as well as the assessment of physical and chemical properties of soils and their microbiomorph composition, suggest that soils relating to various functional parts of the irrigation system within the same catena indicate agricultural use. The multivariate analysis revealed significant differences between irrigated and non-irrigated soils, and a high correlation between the former and the presence of diatom algae, sponge spicules, and phytoliths of Phragmites spp. in the microbiomorph fraction. The observed differences in the microbiomorph concentrations between soils in subordinate catena positions confirm the impact of irrigation on the transformation of the microbiomorph profiles of the ancient irrigated soils in terms of relief. The taxonomy of the buried and anthropogenically transformed surface soils at the type level suggest that over the last 900 years the pedogenic conditions changed from automorphic humus-accumulative to more semihydromorphic solonetzic ones.

Geoarchaeology of the Derkul River floodplain, west Kazakhstan: Soil formation, sediment accumulation and human settlement

“…The distribution of the opaline microfossils (microbiomorphs) was studied along the soil-alluvium profile. The qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the distribution allow the reconstruction of the plant community and the soil moisture regime, as well as the identification of alternating erosion and accumulation stages during soil profile formation (Gavrilov and Khabdulina, 2018; Gavrilov et al, 2018; Golyeva, 2001, 2008).…”

Micro-Environmental Remains in Archaeology: Phytoliths and Faecal Spherulites and Their Application for the Study of Human-Environment Interactions in Archaeological Sediments in Kazakhstan

“…As noted above, research into the identification of irrigation using phytolith assemblages has been carried out by Rosen and Weiner (1994) indicating that changing water availability does have an impact on the nature of phytolith assemblages, meaning that it may be possible to identify cereals which have been irrigated through the ratio of 'fixed' and 'sensitive' phytolith forms which respond to water availability, or (as argued by Rosen and Weiner 1994) through an increased number of conjoined phytoliths (Roberts (unpublished thesis)). Analysis of medieval irrigated soils from Bozok archaeological district, North Kazakhstan by M. Khabdulina and D. Gavrilov employed multivariate statistical analysis of phytolith assemblages in combination with soil chemistry analysis to reveal that ancient irrigated soils can be identified in the archaeological record (D. Gavrilov and Khabdulina 2018).…”