“…Phosphate analysis, trace element analysis (Cu, Mn, Mo, Ca, Se, Sr, Zn, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb) and assessment of chemical stability of organic chemical compounds are the most widely used approaches contributing to the recognition of former land-use practices and past human occupation in general. Calorimetric measurements, atomic absorption spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry are usually employed (Szostek et al 2005;Price and Burton 2012;Manhita et al 2014;Lauer et al 2014) …”