Selected Elements in the Soils Covering Mass Graves from World Wars I and II in Southeastern Poland

Abstract

This study evaluates the reasons for the different content of eight selected elements, Cu, Pb, Zn, S, K, Na, Ca and P, in the upper sections of soil profiles covering mass graves in southeastern Poland. The burial sites include 18 mass graves from World Wars I and II, an active parish cemetery, an old kirkut (Jewish cemetery) and, as a comparative site, a forest nursery. Chemical analyses were carried out using atomic absorption spectroscopy. Among the elements were P and Ca, which dominate in the soils covering the burial sites from World War II. Higher amounts of the elements analysed were found at sites where many people were buried in a small area. The burial sites dug in pure sand revealed a lower content of the elements analysed, particularly Ca and P. In places where human ashes were scattered, Ca and P prevailed. The comparative site, a wet forest margin, is characterized by low levels of S and relatively higher amounts of Ca and P. In the soils covering World War I graves P, in particular, prevails over Zn, Pb and Cu. Differences in the concentrations of the elements studied depend on the type and age of the burial site, the type of soil, the slope gradient and water content prevailing at the site and the proximity to mass graves and cemeteries found close to each other.