Soil science and archeology

The problem of paleopedological studies of archeological monuments in Russi a is discussed on the basis of the materials published in Pochvovedenie. Fr om 1900 to 1979, only 15 articles published in the journal were devoted to this problem. The last two decades have been marked by a burst of interest in paleopedological research in connection with archeology: more than 35 ar ticles on this topic were published in Pochvovedenie. The most important pu blications in the journal and in special monographs are analyzed. The conce ptual review of data on soil evolution and environmental changes in the Hol ocene and on their role in the life of ancient humans dwelling in the stepp e zone of Eurasia from the Mesolithic epoch to Medieval times is presented. The peculiarities of environmental processes during separate archeological periods and in different regions of Eurasia are revealed. The most topical challenges facing the archeological pedology-the new science that has inte grated soil, paleogeographic, and archeological investigations-are formulat ed.