Kelemen Imola (szerk.): A Csíki Székely Múzeum Évkönyve 8. (Csíkszereda, 2012)
Régészet - Tibor-Tamás Daróczi: Environmental Changes During the Holocene in Transylvania
ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES DURING THE HOLOCENE IN TRANSYLVANIA Tibor-Tamás Daróczi1 Introduction The history of research of environmental changes in the Eastern Carpathian Basin is structured around two main fields: natural science and archaeology. The natural sciences provide the raw data for the chapter on environmental changes in the present study, since they mostly concentrate on the documentation and analysis of all possible plant populations in the past. Furthermore, they analyse dominance of certain types of flora, secular succession,2 fire history and, to a lesser extent, human impact. Archaeological research of the environment, on the other hand, mostly concentrates on human impact on certain flora and fauna species of the surrounding environment of archaeological sites. As such, it does not actually document major changes in the environment, but rather how humans have interacted and, in some instances, exploited their surroundings. A brief research history Amongst the research of the environment of the natural sciences in the Eastern Carpathian Basin, the work on hydrology and general geomorphology/lithology goes back the furthest. The issues related to old river beds3 and lithological maps4 were among the first to be researched and the results published. Shortly after this followed drilling in order to create pollen spectra, from which vegetation of past periods could be inferred.5 A good overview of the earlier works and researchers of this field, especially of German origin from Transylvania, is provided by Alfred Bartmus.6 Palynological data from the field has been collected in a steady manner in the coming decades, especially by the representatives of the school of Cluj-Napoca, amongst whom I would like to draw attention to the excellent work of Ion Ciobanu, Alfred Bartmus and Emil Pop, who is considered the father of Romanian palynology.7 The 1970s and 1980s were a period when data and experience accumulated and it was later capitalised upon. From these field-studies I would like to mention 1 The present study was part of my PhD research at the universities of Sibiu and Heidelberg. I am grateful for the help provided by loan Tanţău, Attila Csernátoni, Katalin-Emilia Daróczi and Kinga Fetykó. I would further like to thank Joseph Maran and Laerke Recht for comments on earlier drafts. 2 The process by which a barren and harsh landscape is first “settled” by plants that are resistant to these elements and as such facilitate the spread of other less resistant ones, which then eventually come to dominate the flora and start a secondary secular succession for other species and so on. - personal communication of Katalin-Emilia Daróczi. 3 CHOLNOKY 1907. 4 LÓCZY, Papp 1922. 5 Pop 1932; ZÓLYOMI 1936. 6 Bartmus 1942. 7 Bartmus 1968; Ciobanu 1958, i960; Pop 1942,1957,1958, I960; Pop, Ciobanu 1957; Pop, Diaconeasa 1964; 1967; POPETAL. 1965a, 1965b, 1965c. A Csíki Székely Múzeum Évkönyve Will. (2012), p. 27-58 27
