The Soils Within the Perimeter of the Archaeological Site no. 1, Caracal-Ring Road (Agricultural Research-Development Station) and the Possible Influence of Roman Dwelling on Them

Abstract

Soils represent that superficial deposit from the land surface in a continuous evolution, but with a high vulnerability to climate change and anthropogenic interventions. The current soil was born in a long period of time (numbering hundreds of years) through pedogenetic factors and processes, but also anthropogenic influences on the parent material.

The purpose of this article is to investigate the soil on the territory of a Roma village (vicus), located on both sides of the Caracal Municipality Ring Road. This is located near the Roman road from Romula (Resca village, Dobrosloveni commune, Olt County), the residence of the Dacia Inferior (Malvensis) Roman province’s governor and Sucidava (Corabia-Celei, Olt County), in a region where there was a fertile land favourable to agriculture.

The parental materials (carbonate loess-like deposits loamy-clayey loam) belonging to that period are well represented in the soil horizons starting 25-30 cm from the surface to a variable depth, a fact which will be validated by on-going geophysical studies. The dominant soil is argic chernozem, belonging to the cernisols class specific to the plain area, but with a higher amount of clay. It is important to note that in the 4 soil profiles analysed in detail we find differences in soil texture within the horizons, even if there are traces of the Roman period.