Historical and contemporary cemeteries in the urban area. The modern development of the city vs. human remnants in the soil

IF 2.8 3区 农林科学 Q3 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Andrzej Greinert, Jakub Kostecki
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Abstract

Purpose

Death is inextricably linked to the functioning of the biosphere, including the presence of humans on Earth. The remains of 117 billion people who have ever lived on Earth are mostly hidden in the soil. Hence, the organization, use and subsequent fate of cemeteries and their surroundings should also be considered from the perspective of pedeogenesis. The soils of such areas are subject to multifactorial human pressure, as reflected in their often complex soil profiles.

Materials and methods

The situation of a Central European city of medieval origin, Zielona Gora (Poland), characterized by the presence of 39 cemeteries within its current boundaries, is presented. The location of these cemeteries was shown in light of other factors of human pressure on soil, including relation to buildings construction and a land use. The analysis of the current form of use of burial sites and their immediate surroundings used the technique of field research and a city's documentation query. In order to reflect the specific impact of the form of use of post-burial grounds on soil properties, selected soil characteristics of exemplary historical cemeteries are presented. The main soil characteristics were evaluated using standard methods of laboratory analysis.

Results and discussion

Some cemeteries are reflected in the city's planning documents – there are all contemporary cemeteries and a few historical ones. The vast majority of historical burial sites are not reflected in the plans. This makes modern urban development directly adjacent to them and even encroaches on their territories. Soil analysis has shown that human remains are still present in soils of these areas, even hundreds of years after cemetery closure. In addition to these, the soils are characterized by elevated C and P content relative to the bedrock. The arrangement of the necrosol profile is disturbed by the significant presence of construction and municipal waste. The most soil characteristics, including grain-size composition, pH, EC, sorption properties, organic and inorganic carbon content, as well as macronutrients and heavy metals, are strong influenced by the land use form and urban pressure on cemetery areas.

Conclusions

It is common practice around the world to bury human bodies or ashes in soil, hence their remains contribute to soil profiles. Proper identification of cemetery soil profiles, with a clear indication of necric features, is difficult due to the different uses of cemetery land. The soils of former cemeteries, by reason of their relationship to buildings and urban parks, take on the characteristics typical of such urban land use forms.

Abstract Image

城市地区的历史和现代墓地。城市的现代发展与土壤中的人类遗迹
目的死亡与生物圈的运作密不可分,包括人类在地球上的存在。地球上曾经生活过的 1 170 亿人的遗骸大多藏在土壤中。因此,公墓及其周围环境的组织、使用和随后的命运也应从植被生成的角度加以考虑。这些地区的土壤承受着多因素的人为压力,其复杂的土壤剖面就反映了这一点。材料和方法本文介绍了中欧中世纪城市 Zielona Gora(波兰)的情况,其特点是在其现有边界内有 39 个墓地。这些墓地的位置是根据人类对土壤造成压力的其他因素(包括与建筑物建造和土地使用的关系)确定的。对墓地及其周边环境的当前使用形式的分析采用了实地研究和城市文献查询的技术。为了反映墓葬后场地的使用形式对土壤特性的具体影响,本文介绍了一些典型历史墓地的土壤特性。主要土壤特性采用标准的实验室分析方法进行评估。绝大多数历史墓地都没有反映在规划中。这使得现代城市发展直接毗邻它们,甚至侵占了它们的领地。土壤分析表明,即使在墓地关闭数百年后,这些地区的土壤中仍然存在人类遗骸。除此之外,相对于基岩而言,这些土壤还具有 C 和 P 含量高的特点。建筑垃圾和城市垃圾的大量存在扰乱了尸溶剖面的排列。大多数土壤特性,包括粒度组成、pH 值、导电率、吸附特性、有机碳和无机碳含量,以及常量营养元素和重金属,都受到墓地地区土地利用形式和城市压力的强烈影响。由于墓地土地的用途各不相同,因此很难正确识别墓地土壤剖面,并清楚地显示其钙质特征。旧墓地的土壤由于与建筑物和城市公园的关系,具有此类城市土地利用形式的典型特征。
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来源期刊
Journal of Soils and Sediments
Journal of Soils and Sediments 环境科学-土壤科学
CiteScore
7.00
自引率
5.60%
发文量
256
审稿时长
3.5 months
期刊介绍: The Journal of Soils and Sediments (JSS) is devoted to soils and sediments; it deals with contaminated, intact and disturbed soils and sediments. JSS explores both the common aspects and the differences between these two environmental compartments. Inter-linkages at the catchment scale and with the Earth’s system (inter-compartment) are an important topic in JSS. The range of research coverage includes the effects of disturbances and contamination; research, strategies and technologies for prediction, prevention, and protection; identification and characterization; treatment, remediation and reuse; risk assessment and management; creation and implementation of quality standards; international regulation and legislation.
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