Achaeometrical Research in Hungary II., 1988

ENVIRONMENT - Levente FŰKÖH: The role of malacological examinations in arheology

Fig.l. the cave, this apparent contradiction can be explained easily. As was mentioned before, caves serve as natural traps for gastropods. Compositions of their gastropodan faunas are similar to that of the original environment. Most of the vertebrate remains were found in the form of owl pellets. While the vicinity of the cave was covered by forest, the valleys were occupied by cereal cultivation, thereby providing open hunting grounds, where owls could be more successful. Example for environmental reconstruction by the help of malacological findings of archeological excavations taking place along the highway M3 Archaeological excavations carried out along the track of this Motorway were finetuned using quartermalacological examinations. The importance of these studies was twofold: environmental reconstruction with help of malacological findings; malacological data complement excellently the information inherent to archaeological finds. An example for environmental reconstruction is shown by the evaluation of malacological finds from 209 Kölyuk Il.-cave: Distribution of forest (A) and steppe elements (В) Situation of the fireplace (5., 8. samples) 1-10 samples: Clausiliidae biozone 11-17 samples: Vallonia costata biozone