Archaeological Dark Earth soil is a category of archaeological anthrosols that has gained much attention because it exhibits higher nutrient content and organic matter stocks and a characteristic dark colour, and enables higher crop yields in comparison to neighbouring soil. However, much is unknown about the chemical properties of Archaeological Dark Earth soils in Central Europe. Therefore, we studied a European Dark Earth (EDE) soil, a type of Archaeological Dark Earth soil, in the territory of the early medieval Dřevíč hillfort, Czech Republic, aiming to compare the chemical properties of EDE with a control soil unaffected by settlement activities. The black colour of EDE soil contrasted highly with the light grey Cambisol of the control. Soil reaction and total element contents (N, P, Ca, Mn, Fe, Al, Cu, Zn, Sr and Rb) were substantially larger in the EDE soil compared with the control and vice versa in the case of the C/N ratio. Also, the content of plant‐available (Mehlich III) P, Ca, K and Mg was larger in the EDE soil than the control. In contrast to Ca, plant‐available and total P and K were not well correlated. Total element contents are highly suitable for geoarchaeological purposes as enrichment factors can be easily calculated. The increased contents of these elements, together with pieces of charcoal visible in the EDE soil, indicate the deposition of organic waste and biomass ash during the existence of the hillfort. Thus, medieval hillforts can represent extraordinary nutrient‐rich islands in the cultural landscape of Central Europe. The chemical signatures generated by past settlement activities are so intense that they cannot easily be masked by short‐term intensive application of mineral fertilizers.

中文翻译：

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中世纪的山坡，是捷克共和国非凡的考古黑暗地球土壤之岛

考古学的暗土土壤是一类引起人类关注的考古人为土壤，因为它具有较高的养分含量和有机质储量，具有独特的深色，并且与邻近土壤相比，具有更高的农作物产量。但是，中欧考古学上的深色地球土壤的化学性质尚不清楚。因此，我们在捷克共和国中世纪中世纪德热维奇丘陵地区研究了一种欧洲暗土（EDE）土壤，这是一种考古用暗土，旨在将其的化学性质与不受定居活动影响的对照土壤进行比较。 。EDE土壤的黑色与对照的浅灰色Cambisol形成鲜明对比。土壤反应和总元素含量（N，P，Ca，Mn，Fe，Al，Cu，Zn，与C / N比相比，EDE土壤中的Sr和Rb）显着大于对照，反之亦然。另外，EDE土壤中植物可利用的（Mehlich III）P，Ca，K和Mg的含量比对照大。与Ca相比，植物有效磷和总磷与钾之间没有很好的相关性。总元素含量非常适合地球考古学目的，因为可以轻松计算出富集因子。这些元素的含量增加，以及在EDE土壤中可见的木炭碎片，表明在山坡存在期间有机废物和生物质灰分的沉积。因此，中世纪的山岗可以代表中欧文化景观中非凡的营养丰富的岛屿。