What’s in a colluvial deposit? New perspectives from archaeopedology.

Colluvial deposits are considered as sedimentary archives for the reconstruction of soil erosion history, Holocene climate, past pedogenesis and land use. However, the human contribution to the formation of colluvial deposits is mainly based on quantitative assumptions derived from the local chronostratigraphy and archaeology. For this reason, there is often a substantial gap in the qualitative identification of specific land use practices that caused prehistoric soil erosion.

We use an archaeopedological multi-proxy approach on a multi-layered colluvial deposit (six colluvial horizons) at the prehistoric site of Fürstenberg (Southwest Germany) to gain detailed insights into the soil erosion history, past pedogenesis and land use practices since the Neolithic. Soil and geochemical analyses such as X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), pedogenic oxides, pH-value and calcium carbonate content support the chronostratigraphy based on ages from optically stimulated luminescen...