Soil erosion, agricultural terracing and site formation processes at Markiani, Amorgos, Greece
C A I French, 2000. https://doi.org/10.5284/1000343. How to cite using this DOI
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C A I
French
University of Cambridge
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Cambridge
CB2 3DZ
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- ADS Collection: 287
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1000343
- How to cite using this DOI
Overview
Soils and sediments of a terraced slope at the Early Bronze Age site of Markiani on the Aegean island of Amorgos (Fig 1) were examined micromorphologically to determine the nature and amount of erosion on the slope during the past 5,000 years, and how this had affected the formation of the surviving archaeological record. The deposits forming representative terraces were examined, as was the post-depositional sequence overlying the site, and a red palaeosol preserved beneath terrace retaining walls at the break of slope.
The buried, pre-terrace system 'red soil' was a reworked red palaeosol, much affected by downslope erosion processes, which probably commenced with clearance associated with the Early Bronze Age occupation of the site. Examination of this soil suggested that there were at least two pre-modern phases of use of the hill-side. The analysis of this buried soil (Table 1) suggests a sequence of landscape development involving:
- terra rossa soil formation;
- an initial phase of illuviation and colluviation, associated with increasing leaching and oxidation over time, probably associated with the establishment and occupation of the Early Bronze Age site and agricultural/ pastoral use of the hillslope, leading to the formation of a reworked red soil;
- a period of relative slope stability and soil formation processes within the reworked red soil, which involved the illuviation of fine material;
- a further period of erosion leading to the deposition of illuvial fines (silt and clay), probably resulting from rainsplash erosion and mass movement of soil washing off a bare ground surface uphill;
- burial by the agricultural terrace system. No physical or sedimentological evidence survives to indicate that there was any agricultural terracing on the slope during the Early Bronze Age.
Potentially up to 800 years after the initial occupation of the site and the probable start of landscape modification in its vicinity, the site was abandoned. The profile studied in the excavation trenches at the top of the slope (Table 1) provides clear documentation of the dis-use, collapse and silting-up of the ruins, and subsequent stabilisation of the slope. Elsewhere on the summit of the hill, the archaeological deposits have been severely eroded, and little survives in situ except in pockets in the bedrock. That the later (predominantly Hellenistic) activities on the site did not disturb the underlying Early Bronze Age deposits in the area sampled, probably relates to the depth of post-Early Bronze Age sediment accumulation on that specific shelf, consisting of sediments washed from the archaeological deposits above, and cannot be extrapolated to the entire site. The final period of significant human alteration of the slope deposits is represented by the construction of the agricultural terraces. These cannot be dated directly, though the absence of structural evidence for rebuilding suggests that they are of no great antiquity, a conclusion supported by the absence of significant soil structure development in the sediments behind them.
While one cannot generalise from the terracing evidence at a single small rural site, an approach combining archaeological study of the slope, with the analysis of soil development in the associated terrace fills, holds out the promise of a more effective approach to understanding and dating Aegean terrace systems. The study of terrace soil development has been recognised as potentially useful (van Andel et al, 1986, 117; Wells et al, 1990, 228 ), although it has not previously been pursued systematically. There is an obvious need to prospect for and to select better preserved sites for extensive sampling and analysis, and to situate micromorphological research within a broader programme of palaeoenvironmental and geomorphological study.
References
- van Andel, T H, Runnels, C and Pope, K, 1986, Five thousand years of land use in the Southern Argolid, Greece, Hesperia 55, 103-128.
- Wells, B, Runnels, C and Zangger, E, 1990, The Berbati-Limnes archaeological survey : The 1988 season, Opuscula Atheniensia 18, 207-38.
Figure captions
1
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b)
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Table 1: A summary of the main characteristics of the features examined at Markiani.
| Pre-terrace soil | Terraces | Excavation sequence | ||
| 3 | 6 | 4 | 7/1/2/3 | 7/4 & /5 |
| 10-30% stone | 40-55% stone | 40-70% stone | 10-20% stone | |
| 70-90% soil | 45-60% soil | 30-60% soil | 80-90% soil | |
| 20-30% pores | 30% pores | 30% pores | 15-50%pores | 25% pores |
| well developed peds | poor to moderate peds | poor to moderate peds | poor peds to vughy | vughy |
| clay loam | sandy loam | sandy loam | clay loam | silty clay loam |
| 1 fabric | 1 fabric | 1 fabric | 1 fabric | 1 fabric |
| <2% organics | <10% organics | <10% organics | 5-10% organics | <8% organics |
| abundant dusty clay | abundant dusty clay | abundant dusty clay | abundant dusty clay | abundant dusty clay |
| dusty clay void linings | dusty clay void linings | dusty clay void linings | dusty clay void linings | |
| all fabric reddened | ||||
| reworked red soil with 2 phases of disturbance & erosion | eroded soil & stones | post-occupation erosion and deposition post-Bronze Age erosion and terrace construction | ||
