Yannick Devos

Unravelling urban stratigraphy. The study of Brussels’ (Belgium) Dark Earth. An archaeopedological perspective

Although thick, dark, humic, macroscopically homogeneous units, also known as Dark Earth, are an important part of the urban stratigraphy, their understanding often remains problematic. The aim of the present paper is to demonstrate how archaeopedology contributes to the study of such urban Dark Earth units. Through the example of Brussels’ Dark Earth, we demonstrate that their formation results from multiphased processes whereby various human actions interact with natural phenomena. The formation and transformation of Dark Earth can be understood as an ongoing process of accumulation, erosion, decomposition, homogenisation and other types of soil development that mainly stops once the Dark Earth gets sealed.Among the human activities crop cultivation, gardening, pasture, middening and quarrying have been identified. Main natural phenomena seem to be bioturbation, erosion, alluviation and colluviation.Taking into account that Dark Earth has a polygenetic history, it can be concluded that it should be inve...

Visibility, Preservation and Colour: A Descriptive System for the Study of Opal Phytoliths in (Archaeological) Soil and Sediment Thin Sections

ABSTRACT Phytoliths are abundantly reported in (archaeological) soil thin sections. However, standard description systems are largely missing. The purpose of this paper is to present a descriptive system describing three aspects of phytoliths in soil thin sections: visibility, preservation and colour (VPC). The visibility expresses to which extent the phytoliths are masked or surrounded by fine material. The preservation is an indicator for the physico-chemical alterations that affected the phytoliths. Finally, colour is an indicator of the charring of the organic material surrounding the phytoliths.

The Conservation and Degradation of Archaeological Soil Features in Flanders and Brussels: The example of Watermaal-Bosvoorde

Ten years ago, an extensive literature study on the conservation and degradation of soil features in Flanders was conducted. The outcome was a report discussing the state of preservation. The present contribution intends to synthesize the chief outcomes of that research and to present a case study where the theoretical knowledge and recommendations then put forward have been applied.