Human-environmental relationships in the Early Iron Age recorded in a dark buried (anthropo-)soil from Ostrowite archaeological complex in northern Poland

Abstract

This study gives insights into natural factors and human impact that affected a dark soil formation at the Ostrowite Archaeological Complex (northern Poland) during the Early Iron Age (8th–7th centuries BCE). In this period, the area was occupied by settlers of the Early Pomeranian culture (so-called Wielka Wieś Phase). Despite abundant archaeological and paleoenvironmental research in Europe, geoarchaeological investigations on paleosols using palaeoecological analysis, including micromorphology and molecular markers, still remain limited in N Poland. A multidisciplinary approach was applied, combining geochronology, geochemistry, sedimentology, palaeobotany, and soil micromorphology. Results indicate a long-term transition from natural to anthropogenically modified soils. Land use traces are linked to mixed agricultural and farming practices. Multi-proxy data revealed evidence of shifting cultivation, crop cultivation (millet and wheat), and livestock husbandry (cattle, sheep, and goats) supported by a fallow rotation system. Overall, the findings highlight how Early Iron Age communities managed their economic practices in the recently glaciated zone, formed mostly by tilly and sandy relief forms. We deliberate land-use strategies such as forest clearance, crop farming, and pasture management on the surface of an undulating moraine plateau with numerous small, closed depressions after melted ice blocks. This research demonstrates the high interpretative value of buried soils for reconstructing past human-environment interactions and economic practices in N Poland.