Earliest archeological evidence of fertilization in Central Europe

Abstract

The beginnings of food production-animal husbandry and crop cultivation-and of a sedentary way of life represent one of the most drastic changes in human history. Likewise, this is accompanied by an increasing human impact on nature, which is mainly caused by agricultural practices. Agriculture is related to the clearing of forests, tillage, maintenance of the cultivated land, and finally harvesting, which alters not only the vegetation cover but also soil fertility as there is a potential risk for a loss of nutrients. People already countered this loss of nutrients in the times of early agriculture through different techniques and practices. The article summarizes the earliest evidence of fertilization in the prehistory of Central Europe and presents the most important methods for their investigation. What significance fertilization had for early farming societies can presently not be estimated due to the small amount of data. We therefore advocate the development of a routine for sampling during archaeological excavations and for the analysis of various materials (sediment and plant remains) using various methods. For this, the awareness must be raised that anthropogenic sediments, such as pit fills, are important archives for research into the history of humankind.

Stable isotope analysis in soil prospection reveals the type of historic land-use under contemporary temperate forests in Europe

“…Similarly, the significance of isotope research has been growing in archaeology (particularly in archaeobotany in connection to the theme of agricultural cultivation and farming techniques) and this has led to more robust data collection, to a better understanding of isoscapes, to the production of experimental evidence linking isotope measurements in plant Categories according to medieval settlement parts and contemporary land use are described in Table 2. www.nature.com/scientificreports/ remains and soil 30,78 , and to methods of detecting soil amelioration 79 . Despite these trends, soil geochemical research in archaeology has hitherto given little attention to studying soil isotopes as evidence for past land use in archaeological context.…”

“…Consequently, such studies have already exploited the potential of isotope techniques in identifying/characterizing impacts of past land use on soil conditions 72 . Similarly, the significance of isotope research has been growing in archaeology (particularly in archaeobotany in connection to the theme of agricultural cultivation and farming techniques) and this has led to more robust data collection, to a better understanding of isoscapes, to the production of experimental evidence linking isotope measurements in plant remains and soil 30 , 78 , and to methods of detecting soil amelioration 79 . Despite these trends, soil geochemical research in archaeology has hitherto given little attention to studying soil isotopes as evidence for past land use in archaeological context.…”

Хімічний Склад Та Фізико-Хімічні Властивості Ґрунтів – Індикатори Їхньої Родючості Та Забруднення

“…Важкі метали, які потрапляють із ґрунту в органи рослин, мають негативне значення для загального стану здоров'я людства. Для людини важкі метали мають як негативний вплив, так і відіграють роль кількісних показників, за величиною яких роблять висновки про різноманітні властивості досліджуваних об'єктів [12,24,26]. Стосовно останнього значення для антропології за цим показником можна судити про рівень розвиненості виробництва та ступінь його екологічності, а також має опосередковану характеристику щодо утворення так званих культурних шарів ґрунту [19,24].…”