Estimation of wind-driven soil erosion of a loess-like sediment and its implications for the occurrence of archaeological surface and subsurface finds - An example from the environs of Corneşti-Iarcuri, western Romania

This study introduces an easy-to-apply approach to studying historic landscape development and tillage-induced wind-driven soil erosion of a loess-like sediment. It discusses the implications of these processes for the preservation of cultural remains in the environs of the largest known European ground monument - Corneşti-Iarcuri. This Late Bronze Age enclosure is located in the loess-covered, undulating plains of western Romania and consists of four earth-filled wooden ramparts. Interpretation of historic and modern maps is combined with the study of written sources to qualitatively record historic landscape development. It is shown that major changes in the natural environment, including the intensification of arable farming and the regular establishment of straight field paths, occurred in the study area between c. 1770 and c. 1865. The amount of surface lowering due to wind-driven soil erosion is estimated using a combination of systematic feature extraction from the historic and modern maps, high resolution modeling of the topography based on LiDAR data, subsurface compaction measurements and grain size analyses. The surface lowering on the arable fields of the high plain since c. 1865 totals between 10 and 40 cm. This, together with the actual plowing depth of c. 30 cm, implies that archaeological structures must have penetrated the subsurface to between 40 and 70 cm in order to be preserved in the present-day subsurface. Thus, this study shows that a considerable portion of the cultural heritage has presumably been lost. Moreover, the still intact lower-lying stratigraphy is threatened by the destructive impact of plowing that successively reaches greater depths due to ongoing tillage-induced wind-driven soil erosion on the arable fields. However, bioturbation causing distortion of the systemic context of the cultural remains cannot be excluded, as Luvic Phaeozems and Luvic Chernozems prevail in the study area.