Past human activities can be reflected in the elemental composition of contemporary soils. We asked how much historical land-use identified according to historical maps is reflected by the multi-elemental signatures of soils in an originally medieval village abandoned after WWII.

Using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, we determined the content of 24 elements in soil samples from former arable fields, field boundaries, forests, built-up area, and permanent grasslands.

Previous human activities were connected with the accumulation of 13 elements such as the usually thus interpreted P, Ca, Zn, and Cu, but also with elements rarely used in archaeological studies such as Mg, K, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Rb, Zr, and Sr.

The content of P, Ca, Cu, Zn, Ni, Fe, V, Cr, and Zr decreased on former fields with the distance from the most enriched built-up area. This can be explained by the most intensive deposition of biomass ashes and manuring of gardens and fields close to the village. With the exception of Pb accumulated sub-recently because of aerial deposition, the lowest content of anthropogenic elements was recorded in continuous forest.

The chemical signatures recorded were much stronger than those in previously studied medieval villages in the Czech Republic abandoned in the 15th or 16th centuries. This is because of the long period of the settlement’s existence since medieval times and in addition because of the short time since its abandonment. Although frequently neglected, the multi-elemental composition of soils in deserted settlements can be considered as cultural heritage similarly to the relicts of buildings or still visible field patterns.

过去的人类活动可以反映在当代土壤的元素组成中。我们询问根据历史地图确定的多少历史土地用途被第二次世界大战后被遗弃的原始中世纪村庄的土壤的多元素特征所反映。

使用X射线荧光光谱法，我们确定了以前可耕地，田间边界，森林，建成区和永久草地的土壤样品中24种元素的含量。

先前的人类活动与13种元素（例如通常解释为P，Ca，Zn和Cu）的积累有关，但也与考古学研究中很少使用的元素（例如Mg，K，V，Cr，Mn，Fe，Ni）有关，Rb，Zr和Sr。

随着距最富集建筑区的距离增加，以前田地中的P，Ca，Cu，Zn，Ni，Fe，V，Cr和Zr的含量降低。这可以用最密集的生物质灰分沉积以及对村庄附近的花园和田地进行处理来解释。除了由于空中沉积而近来积累的铅外，连续森林中的人为元素含量最低。

记录的化学特征比15到16世纪被遗弃的捷克共和国以前研究过的中世纪村​​庄的化学特征要强得多。这是因为该定居点自中世纪以来就存在很长一段时间，而且还因为该定居点被放弃以来的时间很短。尽管经常被忽视，但荒芜居民区的土壤的多元素组成可以被视为文化遗产，类似于建筑物的遗迹或仍然可见的田地格局。