Reading soils from the Past is in this course defined as the study of soils and sedimentary records associated with archaeological sites and historic landscapes. Soils and sediments frequently reflect site activities, early land use and associated environmental contexts; they are records of the complex relationships between past societies and bio-physical processes, of landscape histories. The short course gives theoretical frameworks for interpreting soils and sediments as records of the past and gives clear case studies that identify, quantify and evaluate early human activities and environmental imprints. These understandings and skills contribute to new landscape histories for the North Atlantic and Northwest European regions. This work offers important and challenging perspectives on how people lived with and adapted to environmental change and has resonance with contemporary debates on sustainability, resilience and heritage management. As a learning outcome we highlight unders tanding the contributions of soils and sediment analyses in landscape history. Acquired skills are competence in cross-disciplinary approaches applied to questions of society-environment interactions.

Teaching approach: 1 )Reading Soils from the Past Introduction: The tool kit concept (Ian Simpson) 2) Reading soil stratigraphies in the field (Sjoerd Kluiving, CLUE+) 3) New approaches to dating soil stratigraphies (Ian Simpson) 4) Reading soils stratigraphies in the laboratory (Ian Simpson) 5) Teaching Soils as a Record of the Past (Sjoerd Kluiving, CLUE+) 6) Discussion and synthesis (Sjoerd Kluiving, CLUE+ / Ian Simpson)