Kelemen Éva - Pató Mária - Szlankó István (szerk.): Tiszaföldvár - Fejezetek a város történetéből (Tiszaföldvár, 2002)
Tiszaföldvár - Summary
Tiszaföldvár - Summary Tiszaföldvár is situated in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county 28 km's south of Szolnok. Based on ethno-geography, it does not belong to Tiszazug, but from the point of view of settlement and economy-geography and that of culture-history it is still part of that region. Geological studies and the ancient remnants that came to sunlight from the sediment of the Tisza bear witness that during the ice age an extraordinarily rich and varied wildlife must have ruled these lands. The peoples of the Tisza-valley have co-existed with this "water-world" from the very beginning. Not only did they adopt themselves to the special environment, but also they made good use of it. In 1846 a planned and regular river improvement scheme started, and in 1863 the "Szolnok-Csongrád Left-Bank Society of the Regulation of the Tisza" came to life. Using the money they got from the Procuratorial Council, a dam of 28 km's was completed, the cross-section of these banks had grown to 50 m 2. Until 1948 flood-relief works had been carried out by these companies, and it was not earlier than this that water economics and flood control came under state control. The natural environment has changed in course of man's land-forming activities. As opposed to the ancient multi-species vegetation, furrow-weeds started gaining ground. The plant and animal species that are peculiar to the region are held under the protection of "Mid-Tisza Region Landscape Protection Agency" and "Körös Valley Nature Reserve". The first mention of the name of the settlement is dated back to 1467, but the earliest archaeological evidences bear witness that the area has been inhabited since the Mid-Neolithic age. From these findings the idols, small clay models are worth mentioning. As for the findings of the Copper Age, mainly ceramics have been unearthed. There are few findings from the centuries of the Bronze Age. The really interesting traces of historical ages began to appear with the period of the Celts (BC 3 r d -1 s t century) with their houses dug halfway into the ground, a row of stoves and places of devotion. The richest are the Sarmata findings from the late Roman period in forms of settlements and funeral places. The first Hungarians might have occupied Földvár in the first phase of the conquest around 895-896. The silver cup and its surroundings, unearthed in Kétpó, might have belonged to the Hungarian chieftain who first controlled the land. During the time of the organisation of the state, Földvár and its attached areas became part of Szolnok County. This must have happened under the reign of Stephen I. or during the age of Orselo Peter. According to the organisation of Church, this area came under the authority of the Vác bishopric as part of Szolnok archdeaconry. Before 1241 the Szolnok archdeaconry, the Garábsáp (in the vicinity of today's Nagyrév) and the Törökszentmiklós-Szajol monasteries were the major ecclesiastical centres. The oldest vestiges of the Hungarian Middle Ages are provided by the traces of settlements of the early Árpád period, found by Elemér Zolotai in the 281
