Effect of medieval farming activities on elemental composition of soils – case study of deserted village Regenholz (Czech Republic)

Abstract

Regenholz is a deserted medieval village existing approximately between the 13th and 15th centuries. It originated in the colonisation period when the villages were usually founded in upland regions of Central Europe in the High Middle Ages. The study presents the results of a research based on geochemical and spatial analyses of one of the village’s field areas. The aim of the study was to reveal the spatial characteristics of the elemental composition of the previously ploughed soils which are now covered by forest. The analysed field area comprised bundles of 13 strip plots, which were approximately from 30 to 40 meters (up to 60 meters in two cases) wide and 300 meters long. The village and its fields were adjacent to the village Lovětín, which was analysed and published earlier. This made it possible to compare the geochemistry of the deserted fields of both villages with the same natural conditions and historical development. The soil samples were measured for elemental composition by portable XRF. The composition was dominated by elements generally interpreted as past human activity indicators: P, Zn, Mn, and Sr. Past human presence was represented mainly by Cu and partially by Mn content (P and Sr showed similar trends). The obtained results were compared with the data from the adjacent village Lovětín: the results were similar just by comparing the PCA data. The past human activity indicators reached less spatial diversity than those of natural factors.