Reconstructing past land use from dark earth: examples from England and France

Abstract

Soil micromorphology and micro-and bulk-chemical techniques have been applied to dark earth investigations for three decades. These methods have been successful both in identifying the origins of dark earth (e.g. weathering of, and soil formation in, earth-and lime-based constructional materials, domestic and artisan waste, etc.) and in showing how dark earth records use of urban space through time at individual sites and at different locations. Examples are given to demonstrate details of changing land use at Prosper-Mérimée Square, Tours, from Late Antiquity to early medieval times, compared to the small resettled town of Tarquimpol (Moselle), where dark earth records short-lived Late Antique occupation (~100 yrs). Late Roman, Saxon and early medieval dark earth sequences from Anderitum (Pevensey Castle), Canterbury, Winchester and numerous London locations provide analogous data, further aiding our interpretation of populations and activities. Examples of dark earth formation trajectories are given in Table 1.