Davidson, D. A., Dercon, G., Stewart, M. and Watson, F. (2006). The legacy of past urban waste disposal on local soils. J Archaeol Sci 33 (6). Vol 33(6), pp. 778-783.
Title The title of the publication or report |
The legacy of past urban waste disposal on local soils | ||||
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Issue The name of the volume or issue |
J Archaeol Sci 33 (6) | ||||
Series The series the publication or report is included in |
Journal of Archaeological Science | ||||
Volume Volume number and part |
33 (6) | ||||
Page Start/End The start and end page numbers. |
778 - 783 | ||||
Biblio Note This is a Bibliographic record only. |
Please note that this is a bibliographic record only, as originally entered into the BIAB database. The ADS have no files for download, and unfortunately cannot advise further on where to access hard copy or digital versions. | ||||
Publication Type The type of publication - report, monograph, journal article or chapter from a book |
Journal | ||||
Abstract The abstract describing the content of the publication or report |
The authors contend that many attributes of present day soils can only be explained by reference to land management in the historic past, a factor which is particularly well expressed in the plaggen soils which occur extensively on the north European plain. These deepened soils owe their dominant characteristics to the application from the twelfth century of turf materials, often impregnated with dung. Similar deepening of soils can result from the disposal of urban waste. The paper discusses the results of soil research focused on a small Scottish town (Nairn). A soil survey revealed topsoils of over 1m overlying fluvioglacial sands and gravels; such deepening is explained by the use of town waste on the burgh's arable lands from at least the seventeenth century up until the mid-nineteenth century when an integrated sewerage system was installed. Micromorphological study of this deepened topsoil revealed the presence of many small black carbonaceous particles. Oxygen:carbon ratios were calculated from microprobe results as a means of confirming the carbonaceous nature of these particles. Soil phosphorus was primarily concentrated on the perimeter of these particles. The high quality of present day soils on the edge of the town is explained by the disposal of waste material, which included much carbonised material. The paper highlights the importance and potential of examining the gradation in soils from urban to rural contexts. | ||||
Year of Publication The year the book, article or report was published |
2006 | ||||
Locations Any locations covered by the publication or report. This is not the place the book or report was published. |
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Source Where the record has come from or which dataset it was orginally included in. |
BIAB
(The British & Irish Archaeological Bibliography (BIAB))
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Created Date The date the record of the pubication was first entered |
15 May 2006 |