Negative Effects of Late Bronze Age Human Activity on Modern Soils and Landscapes, a Case-study on the Muradymovo Settlement, Urals, Russia

Urals, Russia (53°58′44.8″ N, 55°30′58.8″ E). Despite the presence of a humid climate, the modern
soils of the study site contain more than 27% of gypsum at a depth of just 10 cm from the surface and have a microrelief typical of a gypsum desert. The nearby background Chernozems are gypsum-free to a depth of 2 metres. The ancient people of the “Srubno-Alakul” archaeological culture had a tradition of building their houses from gypsum rock. This is an excellent construction material in dry climates, but dissolves quickly under humid conditions. According to the archaeological data, the ancient people rebuilt their houses more than five times within a period of 200 years, thereby bringing a lot of gypsum to this site, which was later abandoned. At the present time, this area is still unsuitable for human settlement, because the water of the nearest small river is still contaminated by gypsum and has a bitter taste. The properties of modern soils directly affected by Late Bronze Age human activities have been identified as a result of our studies on soil morphology and chemistry (pH, Corg., Ptot, gypsum and calcium carbonate concentrations). Remarkably, there is residual soil contamination by gypsum even after 3,500 years since the abandonment of the site.