Hidden in the mound – Exploring the stratigraphy and paleoenvironmental context of an Early Iron Age burial mound (Süttő, Hungary) by semi-destructive pedological and botanical approaches

• Combined semi-destructive approach enhances the understanding of the stratigraphy of Early Iron Age burial mound. • Paleosoil transmits pedological and land use information of the Middle Danube valley. • Geoarchaeological, archaeobotanical and radiocarbon data provide details on the life cycle of Early Iron Age burial mound. Early Iron Age burial mounds (800/750–550 cal BC) in the Carpathian Basin hold significant environmental and cultural value, reflecting the dynamic interplay between ancient communities and their natural surroundings. Their construction involved substantial landscape modification, including the accumulation of soil and rock. From an environmental perspective, these mounds provide unique insights into past ecological conditions. Soils under the mounds are the messengers of ancient landscape forming factors and soil forming processes, while plant remains of the buried soil and construction layers serve as natural archives, offering evidence about prehistoric land use and vegetation. An EIA burial mound situated on a loess plateau in close proximity to the Danube River (Süttő, Hungary) was investigated through shallow geological coring to obtain stratigraphic information and to collect soil and sediment samples for environmental archaeological analyses. Coring locations were selected based on aerial archaeology, Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS), geophysical survey results and systematic field observations. Soil and sediment samples from the mound structure were subjected to soil, phytolith, and macro-remain analyses. Evidence retrieved through geoarchaeological and pedological methods indicates that the burial was placed on a soil developed at the boundary between forest and chernozem soil zones. After the interment, the mound itself was constructed using soil material excavated from its surroundings. Bioarchaeological proxies reveal disturbance of the uppermost soil layer and mixing with household waste. Following the mound’s construction, its material eroded and was redeposited into the surrounding circular ditch.