In some cases, the human impact on ancient landscapes has been so profound that local soils still remain significantly affected even after hundreds and thousands of years after ending impact. We studied the Late Bronze Age Muradymovo settlement located in the Urals, Russia, aiming to estimate the consequences of the ancient people’s activity on the environment. Despite the present humid climate, the modern soils inside the cultural layer of the study site contain more than 27% of gypsum at a depth of just 10 cm from the surface, and a microrelief of the study site is typical of a gypsum desert. The nearby background Chernozems are gypsum-free to a depth of 2 m. According to the archaeological data, the ancient people belonged to the ‘Srubno-Alakul’ archaeological culture (1750–1350 years B.C. cal (calibrated years before Christ)) and had a tradition of building their houses from gypsum rocks. At the present time, this area is still unsuitable for human settlement. The properties of modern soils inside the cultural layer of the study site are directly affected by the Late Bronze Age human activities. It has been identified on soil morphology, micromorphology, and chemical properties of soils developed inside the cultural layer of the settlement.

During archaeological excavations of a medieval stronghold in Rozprza, a buried thick deposit of deep black (Dark Earth type) soil was discovered. A multianalytical (sedimentological, geochemical and archaeobotanical) study was carried out in order to identify traits the Rozprza Dark Earth. The analyses demonstrated that the soil was formed as an effect of surface accumulation of organic deposits from swampy areas and waste materials with rich admixtures of organic materials. The organic carbon content of the soil of the Rozprza Dark Earth was twice as high, and the total concentration of P was many times higher as compared with the adjacent soil outside the stronghold. Plant macroremains which were recorded within the buried soil and a cultural layer are evidence for human activity, mainly wood gathering and agriculture. In the Early Middle Ages, summer crops could be cultivated there with the use of tilling methods characteristic for root crops or gardens. The accumulation of the Rozprza Dark Earth commenced in the second half of the tenth century AD. In the period between the eleventh and thirteenth century, a ring-fort was established there. The deep black soil is partly covered by the ring-fort’s rampart. The rampart was built with the use of re-deposited earlier cultural layers and sand of the subsoil. It was then clad with sod bricks. Such a construction of a medieval rampart has been recorded for the first time in the territory of Poland. A new interpretation of archaeological structures and cultural layers offers a basis for new conclusions concerning the chronology and the development stages of the medieval settlement and ring-fort in Rozprza.

Combined archaeological and pedogenetic study allows reconstructing the history of early habitation in Moscow Kremlin (Moscow, Russia). The area is confined to the third terrace of Moskva River with Podzols as native soils formed in fluvioglacial sandy deposits under virgin broad-leaved forests with conifers. From the Early Iron Age (1500–2000 BP) to the 12th century, alternating stages of agricultural land use and abandonment resulted in human-induced transformation of natural ecosystems into agricultural landscapes. Agricultural land use provoked soil erosion that lead to truncation of the upper soil horizons. Sediments deposited due to slope erosion and mineral materials transported by ancient people enhanced initial lithic discontinuity of soil parent material. Ancient agricultural practices included melioration of soils by mineral and organic fertilizers. During the Early Iron Age the pasture was fertilized by ash and limed by crushed dolomite. Melioration of the 12th century included not only ash and dolomite but also crushed bones, manure and household waste. A change from the agricultural to urban land use after 15th century resulted in the accumulation of cultural layers. A few interruptions in their accumulation, which were caused by accidental fires or other phenomena, were accompanied by regeneration of natural vegetation cover and the formation of shallow soils imprinted on cultural layers.