Human activities have affected the surrounding natural ecosystems, including belowground microorganisms, for millennia. Their short- and medium-term effects on the diversity and the composition of soil microbial communities are well-documented, but their lasting effects remain unknown. When unoccupied for centuries, archaeological sites are appropriate for studying the long-term effects of past human occupancy on natural ecosystems, including the soil compartment. In this work, the soil chemical and bacterial compositions were compared between the Roman fort of Hegra (Saudi Arabia) abandoned for 1500 years, and a preserved area located at 120 m of the southern wall of the Roman fort where no human occupancy was detected. We show that the four centuries of human occupancy have deeply and lastingly modified both the soil chemical and bacterial compositions inside the Roman fort. We also highlight different bacterial putative functions between the two areas, notably associated with human occupancy. Finally, this work shows that the use of soils from archaeological sites causes little disruption and can bring relevant information, at a large scale, during the initial surveys of archaeological sites.

Centre Camille Julian CNRS Université Aix Marseille Aix en Provence France

CNRS Orient et Méditerranée Textes Archéologie Histoire Paris France

Department of Culture Faculty of Art University of Helsinki Helsinki Finland

Department of Plant Taxonomy and Nature Conservation University of Gdańsk Gdańsk Poland

Faculty of Science Department of Experimental Plant Biology Charles University Prague Czech Republic

Institut de Systématique Evolution Biodiversité Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle CNRS Sorbonne Université EPHE Paris France

Institut Universitaire de France Paris France

Laboratoire des Symbioses Tropicales et Méditerranéennes CIRAD IRD INRAE University of Montpellier Montpellier SupAgro Montpellier France

Valorhiz Montferrier sur Lez France

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