Viola T. Dobosi: Paleolithic Man in the Által-ér Valley (Tata, 1999)
the natural forestal cover is developed in function of the surface morphology. On the sides of the Vértes Mts., we can find mixed karstic forests with sumac (Cotinus), while on the flatter areas, mixed deciduous forests can be found. The raw materials exploited on industrial scale comprise building materials (sand, gravel, limestone and dolomite) and energy resources (brown coal seams of the Tatabánya and Oroszlány basins). We have no positive data on the Palaeolithic of the territory. In the 1960-ies, József Glász collected some archaeological finds at Környe and its environs on the low-lying terraces of the Által-ér, and among the finds of younger periods, form of stone tools were spotted that could equally belong to the Palaeolithic period. There were no excavations on these collecting points and the typological features do not offer enough clues to an exact chronological, cultural classification of the finds. Knowing however the lower reach of the Által-ér valley and the high „density of sites in the Palaeolithic period we are confident that also this part of the valley was probably inhabited, too. After joining the Galla-stream, the valley of the Által-ér takes an almost rectangular turn towards the north-west instead of the former north-eastern direction and then preserve this till its outlet. At the same time, this is the eastern border of the Győr-Tata microregion. The basement of the valley is getting constantly lower, at the firth of the Által-ér it is only 110 m above sea level. To the west of the Által-ér valley till Győr we can find low-lying slightly dissected flatland with terraces composed of detritic cones. The eastern margin of the Által-ér valley means a sharp border in base-rock same as in the upper part of the river valley. At the lower reach of the rivulet, the Eastern margin is more or less framing the western steep slopes of the Gerecse Mts. and its foothill region. This relatively short phase of the stream valley, extending from Bánhida to TataTóváros is the most important part of the region for our special point of view. The rivulet or stream - in Hungarian, „ér" is flowing in a considerably wide valley compared to its current water discharge; this short phase of the river, extending to not more than 15 km in length witnessed, framed, even participated important events in the life of prehistoric peoples inhabiting the area. The northernmost member of the Transdanubian Mid-Mountain Range is the Gerecse Mts., lying at the eastern margin of the Általér turning to the north-west here. In its base rock and structure, the Gerecse is closely related to the Vértes Mts., so that between Szár and Felsőgalla, there is no natural border-line between these two members of the Mid-Mountain Range. Generally, the valley of the Komárom railway is referred to as the border line between the two mountains. 7
