Dataset on spatial variability of soil properties: Tokhmeyevo archaeological site of the Bronze Age, Chuvashia (southern fringe of the forest zone, the Russian Plain)статья
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Аннотация:Geoarchaeological and palaeopedological studies focusing on the reconstruction of theHolocene paleoenvironments require a detailed knowledge of the spatial variability ofsoil properties both for the surface soils and paleosols buried under archaeologicalconstructions. However, such studies are often carried out at unique sites where it isdifficult to ensure the representativeness of the data obtained. In this paper, we reportoriginal data on 15 soil profiles which shows the range of spatial variability of soilproperties (рН H 2 O, рН KCl, particle size distribution, depth of genetic horizons,colour codes) for both surface and buried soils at the Tokhmeyevo kurgan cemetery,located in the Middle Volga region, Chuvash Republic, Russia. The data supplementthe original research [1] and also give additional detailed information on pollen andspore analysis by plant species for the humus horizons in four buried and one surfacesoils. All soils developed from the same lithology (mantle loam), at the same elevation,in a similar topographic position (levelled upland slope) and in proximity to each other.Both buried and surface soils, classified as Retisols [1], show slight variability inmorphology and particle size distribution that varies in a similar range. However, thetwo soil groups (buried and surface) differ in two striking features: buried soils exhibitdark humus horizon and black humic cutans in the middle part of the soil profile; thesefeatures are absent in the surface soils. The values of рН in water and 1 M KClsuspension in the buried soils and soils of the kurgan mounds are lower than in thesurface soils. The data on the spatial variation of the properties of the surface andburied soils increase the reliability of the results, making it possible to assess theextent to which the differences in soils are associated with the environmental evolution.The presented data can provide one the context for further work in paleoenvironmentalstudies and also be compared with other already published datasets increasing thereliability of conclusions about the trends of environmental evolution in the second halfof the Holocene.