It is commonplace to report the effects of humans on soils as that of a threat to the long-term sustainability of the resource, particularly as conventional agriculture has accelerated erosion rates one to two orders of magnitude greater than the natural rates of soil production. If humans represent an additional factor to the traditional five factors of soil formation, their intervention in pedogenesis is often reported as that of arresting soil development and inducing regressive soil change such as acidification and contamination. However, out of the six state factors, the role of humans is unique in that, unlike parent material, climate and biotic communities, humans have the adaptive capacity to build new and transform existing soils over relatively short time scales. The need to contribute to new soil formation is especially important for the long term sustainability of the resource, given that erosion rates still exceed the natural rates of soil production, even under conservation management systems. Plaggic, terric and hortic horizons, including dark earth profiles, are not only records of past relationships between humans and soils, but demonstrate the potential contributions humans can make to contemporary soil formation and conservation. This multidisciplinary session aims to bring together the paleosol community with those who research contemporary soil conservation. We welcome presentations that highlight historic (and ancient) soil management, especially those that focus on the practices of soil building and formation. Early Career Researchers are especially encouraged to contribute.