A palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the rampart construction of the medieval ring-fort in Rozprza, Central Poland

Abstract

During archaeological excavations of a medieval stronghold in Rozprza, a buried thick deposit of deep black (Dark Earth type) soil was discovered. A multianalytical (sedimentological, geochemical and archaeobotanical) study was carried out in order to identify traits the Rozprza Dark Earth. The analyses demonstrated that the soil was formed as an effect of surface accumulation of organic deposits from swampy areas and waste materials with rich admixtures of organic materials. The organic carbon content of the soil of the Rozprza Dark Earth was twice as high, and the total concentration of P was many times higher as compared with the adjacent soil outside the stronghold. Plant macroremains which were recorded within the buried soil and a cultural layer are evidence for human activity, mainly wood gathering and agriculture. In the Early Middle Ages, summer crops could be cultivated there with the use of tilling methods characteristic for root crops or gardens. The accumulation of the Rozprza Dark Earth commenced in the second half of the tenth century AD. In the period between the eleventh and thirteenth century, a ring-fort was established there. The deep black soil is partly covered by the ring-fort’s rampart. The rampart was built with the use of re-deposited earlier cultural layers and sand of the subsoil. It was then clad with sod bricks. Such a construction of a medieval rampart has been recorded for the first time in the territory of Poland. A new interpretation of archaeological structures and cultural layers offers a basis for new conclusions concerning the chronology and the development stages of the medieval settlement and ring-fort in Rozprza.