Novák László Ferenc (szerk.): Gazdálkodás az Alföldön. Földművelés - Az Arany János Múzeum közleményei 9. (Nagykőrös, 2002)
Határhasználat - Vályi Katalin: Ember és környezet Szermonostor fénykorában
természetközeli életet is tükrözi, amelyben az ember és környezete még nem vált egymás ellenségévé. A kút leleteinek további, teljes feldolgozásától a környezet és a monostori gazdálkodás részletesebb megismerését várhatjuk. Man and environment at Szermonostor Archaebotanical and archaeozoological finds from a 13th century well The monastery of Szer, built by the Bor-Kalán kindred, lay on the right bank of the Tisza, at about one day’s journey from Szeged on the road to Buda. The construction of the three-nave monastery church was begun on the mid-12th century. The monastery shows the usual layout of the period and an extensive complex of economic buildings were also identified to its south. A rectangular well, lined with ashlars, was uncovered in the centre of the courtyard of these buildings. The monastery was destroyed at the time of the Mongolian invasion of 1241, and the well was filled with kitchen refuse and rubble. The finds from the fill can thus be securely dated to the earlier 13th century, to the period preceding the destruction of the monastery. The entire fill of the 9 m deep well was investigated with flotation. The rich archeobotanical and arheozoological finds will be examined and analyzed by Dr. Pál Sümegi and his colleagues at the University of Debrecen. (1) About 20 per cent of the charred wood remains - weighing several kilograms - have been identified to date. Oak, used as construction material, dominates among these finds, followed by beech (used as firewood), alder (used as firewood and painting agent), elm and hornbeam (used as construction material). (2) Mosses: species living in symbiosis with oak dominate the finds, although species characteristic of dryer loessy and sandy areas (that no longer thrive in this region) have also been identified. (3) Shells and snails: the 36 Mollusca species identified to date comprise over 20 thousand remains. Two distinct faunas, fossil and sub fossil species were distinguished. The Holocene and Pleistocene snails and shells washed out from the wall of the well occurred together with fluvial species. (4) Insect remains: several hundred insect remains were identified that could be assigned to 17 taxa. These include species living in oak woods and species associated with domestic animals, as well as species inhabiting residential buildings. The presence of the Mediterranean Scarabeus affinis species in noteworthy since this species no longer lives in this area. It only reproduces in horse and sheep manure and thus its dominance suggest that extensive animal husbandry was practiced at Szer during the the Árpádian Age. The ratio of agricultural pests is also quite significant. (5) Fish remains: several thousand fish remains were identified that represented 7 taxa. Carp dominates among these remains (at least 24 specimens), but carp-bream and crucian were also present. Bream remains (2 specimens) were also identified. The presence of this species allowed the reconstruction of a special fishing 50
