A Chronology of Marl Pits in the Paris Basin Determined from the Infilling of Closed Depressions: Do Marling Practices Have Their Origin in the Neolithic Period?
Résumé
Marling (limestone alkaline amendment) agrarian practices have a plurimillennial influence on soil pH and on soil-associated ecosystems. Although the earliest written records in Europe date back to antiquity, the origin of this agrarian practice is not well known. In order to trace the evolution of this practice in the early agrarian societies of Western Europe, we searched for topographic anomalies of ancient limestone quarries that may have been used for marling. identified, the preferential excavation of soft (friable) limestone and the localization of these quarries in fossil agrarian plots led us to hypothesize that they were used for alkaline amendments of the cultivated fields. The quarries were filled from the Middle Neolithic to Late Antiquity, shortly before the period of afforestation of these former agrarian territories.
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