Soil micromorphology in archaeology: history, objectives, possibilities and prospects

Бронникова, М. А.; Панин, А. В.; Murasheva, V. V.; Golyeva, Alexandra

doi:10.19047/0136-1694-2016-86-35-45

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 5 publications

(4 reference statements)

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“…In the course of experimental studies conducted by international scientists using a light microscope, the relationship between the appearance of the earthen block and the technological methods of the construction of an adobe structure was traced (Cammas, 2018). There are no data on the study of earthen archaeological structures by Russian scientists using the science-based methods, in particular micromorphological (Bronnikova et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Marfa Kurgan in the Stavropol Territory: An Example of an Ancient Architectural Structure

Khokhlova

Nagler

2020

Arheol. ètnogr. antropol. Evrazii

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This study focuses on the analysis of structural elements of the Marfa kurgan in the Stavropol Territory. We list and examine terms referring to such elements, and suggest our own. A description of the kurgan, its natural environment, excavation techniques, sampling, and analytical methods is provided. The material of which the kurgan was made is assessed, and its advantages over other materials are demonstrated. We studied mud blocks (or “bricks”), their clay coatings, and a striped adobe element from the kurgan. Results of chemical and granulometric analyses are outlined, along with those of the micromorphological analysis of soils underlying the kurgan, of the material of which the “bricks” and the coatings were made. The blocks were molded by thoroughly kneading and compacting a moistened material consisting of loess with the addition of river silt, without plant admixture. Clay coatings were much denser, as it consisted of a coherent ﬁnely dispersed clay-carbonate material. Clay mortar, similar to coatings in composition and properties, was used to connect the blocks and the stones of the crepidoma. The same mortar was used for foundations of clay “bricks” buildings. The adobe element with thinnest variously colored stripes resulted from a destruction of an earlier structure.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Marfa Kurgan in the Stavropol Territory: An Example of an Ancient Architectural Structure

Khokhlova

Nagler

2020

Arheol. ètnogr. antropol. Evrazii

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“…Only in much later studies (Borisov et al, 2019;Plekhanova, 2018) have soils (Solonetz) buried below kurgans been compared to "sod blocks" from the mound and found to be identical in terms of their macromorphological features and chemical properties. More recently, micromorphology was added to the study of earthen archaeological structures by Russian scientists (Bronnikova et al, 2016;Khokhlova & Nagler, 2020).…”

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confidence: 99%

A geoarchaeological study of the large Early Bronze Age Essentuksky 1 kurgan in Ciscaucasia, Russia

et al. 2021

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A geoarchaeological study of the large Essentuksky 1 kurgan in the Stavropol region of Russia analyzed the chemical composition and micromorphological features of the kurgan's earthen materials and established their relationships with buried soils in the context of previously conducted paleoclimatic reconstructions. The kurgan was 5.5-6.0 m high and more than 60 m in diameter, and consisted of four earthen and three stone constructions. It was built in the second quarter of the 4th millennium BC (the Early Maykop culture) using a precise plan and utilizing the building skills and technologies available at that time. The earthen constructions consisted of alternating layers of dark-colored slightly compacted humified and pale-colored dense carbonate-rich materials, which, in the moist state, were rammed down by ancient builders. These materials were sourced mainly from local soils and contained admixtures of river silt and, at the final stage of building, dung. The physicochemical properties of the earthen constructions as well as the paleosols buried under them are indicative of a short-term aridization of the climate within the period of building. A gleyed earth with strong iron staining at the kurgan's base and mortar that held the stone constructions was produced by thoroughly mixing and compacting in a wet state, indicating that they were special construction materials. This kurgan is an example of the ancient earth architecture in the steppe zone of Russia over 5500 years ago.

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Soil micromorphology in archaeology: history, objectives, possibilities and prospects

Cited by 2 publications

References 5 publications

The Marfa Kurgan in the Stavropol Territory: An Example of an Ancient Architectural Structure

The Marfa Kurgan in the Stavropol Territory: An Example of an Ancient Architectural Structure

A geoarchaeological study of the large Early Bronze Age Essentuksky 1 kurgan in Ciscaucasia, Russia

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