SOILS OF SMALL ARCHAEOLOGICAL SETTLEMENTS IN THE STEPPE ZONE AS A RESULT OF BRONZE AGE ANTHROPOGENIC IMPACT

Abstract

"The contemporary direction of natural pedogenesis/soil science is ancient anthropogenic impact and climate fluctuations changes. A large number of settlements in the river valleys are unique objects with a long history of development and modern soil cover formation. We studied the soil between the dwellings for a small settlement Zarya of the Bronze Age. The settlement was part of the economic zone of cattle breeding (horses and cows and sheep) of the large early Bronze Age fortified city Sarym-Sakla, one of the country's Proto-Iranian Cities of the Trans-Ural Plateau. The activity of ancient societies changed the terrestrial ecosystem functioning at macro and microscales. Increased heterogeneity of microrelief forms led to the diversity of soil cover. We found the unusual soil types on microelevations and microdepressions. The enrichment of the cultural layer with phosphorus compounds was revealed, and the hypothesis of the formation of a ""reverse"" ratio of chernozems-solonetzes of the soil cover of the low above-floodplain terrace as a consequence of several stages of ancient anthropogenic pressure and climatic aridization was confirmed in this area. We focused on the determination of organic carbon content, magnetic susceptibility, salt composition, cation exchange capacity, and the distribution of mobile phosphates along the soil profile as possible indicators of ancient anthropogenic influence. The degree of soil properties changes during the anthropogenic impact is commensurate with their transformation in the natural evolution of centuries and even several millennia. Past anthropogenic changes leave a mark in the history of the development of the soil cover predetermining the modern danger of the degradation phenomena. Moreover, we draw parallels in the history of ecosystems formation and outlined tasks for further research."