Effects of Different Landcare Regimes On Survival of Buried Archaeology and Soil Sustainability.

Both maintenance of long-term soil sustainability and the protection of buried archaeological resources require specific measures in place to limit adverse impacts from a variety of anthropogenic pressures.  Within the context of military training lands, different land maintenance operations are conducted in order to ensure the training lands are sustained for specific carrying capacity and required training loads.  While military training lands are not generally used for agricultural production, many of the operations and vehicles used for land maintenance activities are the same or similar to those utilized in agriculture to prepare soils for successful cropping. 

In agricultural lands where buried archaeology is present, protection of the deeper layers of the soil profile is essential to preventing damage to buried artifacts or archaeological features.  Subsurface pressure transfer and soil deformation must be kept to a minimum to avoid deep and irreversible effects.  In order to ensure that the buried artifacts survive unharmed, limitations can be placed on vehicle and machinery specifications.  These same limitations and strategies for a cultivation regime that does not have adverse effects on buried archaeology are also used to protect sustainability of soils and prevent degradation of the soil profile.

For military training lands, similar strategies might be possible to enhance the sustainability of soils to support training activities, as well as protect archaeological areas from damage.  This study provides a review of soil status relative to four different cultivation regimes, by investigating long-term soil strength and pressure transfer magnitudes under a range of agricultural field operations.  The results from this study have potential to assist planning on Military installations for sustainable soil and cultural resource management.