Soil variability in the area of an archaeological site near Sparta, Greece

Results are analysed from a Late Roman site, one of 20 studied in the Laconia Rural Sites Project. The aim was to consider the extent to which effects of human activity at the time the site was inhabited were still evident in the soil and the extent to which these could be distinguished from natural soil variations. The site has not been excavated. Patterns of soil properties, of artefacts on the ground-surface and of those encountered in the topsoil whilst sampling are analysed for a 5 m-interval grid. Soil samples from 20 cm depth were analysed for total P, Pb, Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn, Ni, Ca, Mg, K and organic C, mass specific and volume magnetic susceptibility, secondary crystalline and amorphous Fe, pH, CaCO3, particle-size distribution and colour. All variables are mapped and data are further analysed using cluster, regression and principal components analyses. Relatively high values for soil P, Cu, Pb, Ca, organic C, magnetic susceptibility and clay content and low pH and darker soil colour are associated with areas of the grid where artefact counts were highest. The distinctive character of the soil in these areas, reinforced by cluster and principal components analyses, is attributed to a combination of inherent soil and anthropogenic effects.