Studying urban stratigraphy: Dark Earth and a microstratified sequence on the site of the Court of Hoogstraeten (Brussels, Belgium). Integrating archaeopedology and phytolith analysis

Soil micromorphology has become an important tool in urban archaeology to investigate enigmatic dark, humus-rich, apparently homogeneous units, known as Dark Earth. It has also proven to be of great value to study microstratified sequences (such as floors), allowing a finer grained picture. Phytolith studies have also shown to be of particular interest to investigate archaeological layers, especially where other botanical remains are poorly preserved. The integration of phytolith studies and micromorphology allows understanding of the distribution and orientation patterns of the phytoliths and their relation to other features/fabrics, contributing to a better understanding of taphonomical processes and the identification of different human activities. The aim of the present article is to demonstrate the possibilities of such an integrated approach by the example of the site of the Court of Hoogstraeten, situated near the top of a steep slope, next to the Palace of the Dukes in the centre of Brussels (Belgium). The present article focuses on one complex sequence that includes two levels of Dark Earth and a microstratified sequence. The integrated study demonstrates that the formation of the Dark Earth on the site of the Court of Hoogstraeten results from multiphased processes, whereby various human actions interact with natural phenomena. Among the human activities pasturing, crop growing, manuring and composting have been identified. The microstratified sequence has been identified as a potential floor layer. As such, this approach does not only allow understanding the site formation processes both from homogenised units like Dark Earth, and microstratified ones, but also identification of ancient activities that are rather difficult to interpret based on field data alone.