Tutorial:Anthropogenic Erosion

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Anthropogenic erosion
Human activity can result in erosion in two ways, both directly through earth moving operations, such as quarrying, and indirectly whereby activities such as cultivation destabilize slope materials and accelerate erosion though wind or water. In this way, erosion events themselves can directly form part of the archaeological record.

Past and present quarry and mining activities can account for large volumes of earth movement. However, more subtle erosion processes may also occur including peat cutting and turf stripping; the latter producing a gradual thinning of the soil profile and the lowering of the ground surface. Certain cultivation practices can also lead to the direct downslope movement of material. In historical times the practice of delling (digging) rigs (arable fields) in Shetland led to the accumulation of material at the bottom of slope. Every few years this would then be returned to the top of the slope in buckets.

Plough damage is a major threat to shallowly buried archaeological remains in arable areas. If a soil is more deeply ploughed than normal, or if the surface is gradually being lowered by wind, water and tillage erosion, the plough can bite into and destroy stratigraphy and physical remains. The presence of artefacts in the plough soil attests to the potential destructiveness of this process.

Human activities also have a huge impact on other forms of erosion, especially wind and water. Cultivation, deforestation, and trampling by livestock open up the bare surface of the soil to wind and water erosion.

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