Comparison between buried uncultivated and cultivated Iron Age soils on the west coast of Jutland, Denmark
Abstract
Wind blown sands have buried and preserved the soil profiles of some lron Age soils near an Iron Age settlement in the present day Parish of Lodbjerg on the west coast of Jutland, Denmark. Some of these buried soils show signs of Iron Age agriculture, while others were not disturbed. The present study attempts to clarify this difference and to see how lron Age cultivation affected soil-forming processes. We have found that the cultivated soils contain an abundance of fine charcoal and silt, which is integrated with the top horizon of the soil. In fact, this can be used as a diagnostic criterion for the cultivated soils. Our physical and chemical data show that the ancient cultivation affected particle size distribution, distribution of organic matter, C/N ratio, and organic phosphorous content, as well as some other parameters.
