Paleopedology (
palaeopedology in the
United Kingdom) is the discipline that studies
soils of past geological eras, from quite recent (
Quaternary) to the earliest periods of the
Earth's history. Paleopedology can be seen either as a branch of
soil science (
pedology) or of
paleontology, since the methods it uses are in many ways a well-defined combination of the two disciplines.