Matskási István (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 88. (Budapest 1996)
Medzihradszky, Zs. ; Járai-Komlódi, M.: Late-Holocene vegetation history and the activity of man in the Tapolca Basin
sample we made control pollen analyses to keep the agreement of the levels under strict supervision. Laboratory technique: For the preparation of pollen samples we used the standard method of ERDTMAN (1943) and ZÓLYOMI (1953) (acetolysis combined with the heavy liquid method). When it was necessary we sieved the organic material to remove coarse debris. For mounting the residue and in the identification of the pollen we used glycerol. We extended the analyses to at least 1000 pollen per sample (BERGLUND 1986). In case of poor sample, we analysed the whole slide (20 x 40 mm). DISCUSSION The lower border of the investigated profile was marked, from where we could continuously observe the indisputable traces of human establishment, the pollen of cereals. According to archaeological chronology, our epoch embraces the period from the Copper Age until the Middle Ages (Fig. 2). The border between the Late Atlantic/Sub-Boreal phase, the VII/VIII. pollen zone was dated to be the end of the 4 th , the beginning of 3 rd millennium BC. This border commenced with some deterioration of the climate. It became cooler again with increased precipitation. According to palynological data, the forests closed in this time. In the central region of the Great Hungarian Plain forest-steppe with oak-woods existed. The most characteristic association here probably was the Quercus robur forests with Convallaria, as well as the oak-woods mixed with Carpinus and Fagus (JÁRAI-KOMLÓDI 1968, 1987, 1991a, b, KORDOS & JÁRAI-KOMLÓDI 1988). In Transdanubia, at Lake Balaton Fagus expanded again, this time along with Carpinus (NAGY-BODOR 1988, ZÓLYOMI 1987). The 14 C data confirmed the investigations of ZÓLYOMI (GYORFFY & ZÓLYOMI 1996). In our pollen diagram there is a Fagus-Carpinus peak in this time, with a standard (2030%) Quercus quantity. The pollen of the cereals have been continuous since the LateAtlantic phase, but significant only from the Sub-Boreal phase. About 2 km SW of our sampling site, in the boundary of Balatonederics in an about 250-300 m long and 150 m wide zone a prehistoric settlement was disarranged by ploughing. Among the archaeological finds collected from the surface few fragments represented the Balaton group from the Copper Age (SÁGI 1966). Finds from the same age have come to light from Keszthely-Fenékpuszta. At this place the charcoal material of an oven was studied by radiocarbon method too, and dated to the year 2940±80 BC. The wood remain was identified as Quercus robur LINNAEUS, 1753. From a short distance, again from the locality of the Balaton group, the date 2840+ 80 BC was obtained by l4 C measurement (QUITTA & KOHL 1969). Also from Fenékpuszta from the same age we know macrofossils of cereals too, for example eincorn (Triticum monococcum LINNAEUS, 1753), emmer (Triticum dicoccon SCHRANK, 1789), barley (Hordeum distichon LINNAEUS, 1753 cv. nudum ROTHMALER, 1963) and rye (Secede cerecde LINNAEUS, 1753), which is the earliest rye find nowadays in the Carpathian Basin (FÜZES 1990). Likely it was not a cultivated plant, but a weed in other crop-fields (BEHRE 1992).
