Achaeometrical Research in Hungary II., 1988

ENVIRONMENT - Pál SÜMEGI - Ede HERTELENDI - Enikő MAGYARI - Mihály MOLNÁR: Evolution of the environment in the Carpatian basin during the last 30,000 BP years and its effects on the ancient habits of the different cultures

river regulations and the monocultural economy with deforestation process) some natural places survived progressive human activity and we can reconstruct past natural conditions in the Carpathian Basin and the evolution of environment using palaeoecological and geoarchaeological data. Methods We collected samples from 20 Upper Pleistocene and 10 Late Pleistocene-Holocene marsh, peat and lake sequences for sedimentological, geochemical, quartermalacological and pollen analyses as well as the evaluation of wood anatomy (BRAUN et al. 1993, 353360; T. DOBOSI et al. 1983, 294-299. KROLOPP, 1974. 27-28; 1989, 15-25; 1991, 257259; KROLOPP-SÜMEGI, 1990, 7-9; 1991, 19-22; 1992, 254-258; 1993, 264-267; 1995, 217-220. KROLOPP et al. 1996, 350-351; MOLNÁR-GEIGER, 1981, 242-249; 1995, 171-176. MOLNÁR-KROLOPP, 1978, 247-260. NYILAS-SÜMEGI, 1992, 482-486; RUDNER et al. 1995, 165; SÜMEGI, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1996, SÜMEGI-KROLOPP, 1995, 129-130; SÜMEGI et al. 1994, 360-362; 135-140; 1996a, 111; 1996b, 112; 1997, WILLIS et al. 1995, 40-41; 1997, 4-5). Lithostratigraphic features were identified through macroscopic examination and grain size analysis and described using the TROELSSMITH (1955) classifications. Some of the loess profiles and all the lake and peat sediment layers were analysed by the ICP-AES method using a Spectroflame instrument with simultaneous and sequential measurements. The climate of the Carpathian Basin was reconstructed using the malacothermometer method between 7-30 ka BP (SÜMEGI, 1989, 14-17; HERTELENDI et al. 1992, 834-836; SZÖŐR et al. 1991, 61-63), based on the ecological classifications of SPARKS (1961, 76-80), LOZEK (1964, 49-53) and KROLOPP-SÜMEGI (1995, 213- 214). Palaeoenvironmental changes have been registered during the past 30 ka BP. More than 120 samples were taken for radiocarbon dating at the Nuclear Research Centre of Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Debrecen, Hungary (HERTELENDI, 1990, HERTELENDI et al. 1989, 399-405; 1992, 836-839; 1995, 241243) using molluscs shell carbonate, peat material and charcoal fragments. The lake sediment and peat and marshy layers were analysed in Cambridge for pollen at the Department of Plant Sciences (WILLIS et al. 1995, 35-39; 1997, 4-5; MAGYARI in SÜMEGI et al. 1997, 15-22). Results Between 25.000-32.000 BP years a mild and wet climatic phase developed in the Carpathian Basin. A soil horizon formed on the Middle Wurm loess surface. This palaeosol horizon is named Upper Mende Soil II (PÉCSI, 1975, 221-225; 1993, 279-283; PÉCSI et al. 1979, 375-383). Palaeovegetation and quartermalacological data indicate a development of a palaeoclimatic barriers in the central part of Carpathian Basin. In the southern part of this basin open taiga forest existed where Pimis silvestris with Betula species dominated, while in the northern part of the basin Picea was suppressed by forest elements. In the northern part of the basin some Pinus silvestris charcoal fragments could be detected by wood anatomy, but they have been found only on the southern slopes of the mountain range between 25.000-32.000 BP years. The spots of Pinus silvestris in the Picea type taiga forest show that microclimatic and microenvironmental mosaics occurred in the foothill region, so that plants and animals with different ecological tolerance could live together. Some Balcanic elements immigrated into the Carpathian Basin during this period. One of the most important immigrant Molluscs was Granaria frumentum which spread in the southern and central part of the basin and its distribution reflected clearly the 185