B. Papp szerk.: Studia Botanica Hungarica 36. 2005 (Budapest, 2005)

Medzihradszky, Zsófia: Holocene vegetation history and human activity in the Kis-Balaton area, Western Hungary

Studia bot. hung. 36, pp. 77-100, 2005 HOLOCENE VEGETATION HISTORY AND HUMAN ACTIVITY IN THE KIS-BALATON AREA, WESTERN HUNGARY Zs. MEDZIHRADSZKY Department of Botany, Hungarian Natural History Museum H-1476 Budapest, Pf 222, Hungary; medzi@bot.nhmus.hu Two cores, dated by 23 radiocarbon data were investigated by pollen analysis and multivariate mathematical methods together with the settlement history of the area to determine the Holocene vegetation history and the human influence in the prehistoric times in the ancient bay of Lake Balaton. The first occurrence of anthropogenic indicators, pollen of Triticum and Triticum monococcum-Hordeum type, was detectable in the middle of the 6th millennium, in the Early Neolithic Period. From this time until the top of the sequence, the presence and the value of cereals were in correspondence with the settlement history. Pollen of weeds were irrelevant as anthropogenic indicators. Forest clearance takes place only after 3000 BC. Key words: Holocene vegetation history, human influence, Lake Balaton, pollen analysis, western Hungary INTRODUCTION In palynological science the study of human influence over the plant cover has a long history. From the 1930s Franz Firbas worked out methods, with which the human disturbance was investigable (FIRBAS 1937), then in 1941 and 1949 J. Iversen in his publications pointed out the vegetation changes caused by the prehistoric tribes as a matter of fact (IVERSEN 1941, 1949). In his classical papers anthropogenic indicator taxa, mainly pollen of ruderals were determined. In the second half of the 20th century the interdiscipline cooperation between palynology and historical sciences has had a great impetus. About 40 years after Iversen'

s work, in the 1980s, Karl-Ernst Behre made a contribution by collecting and summarising existing knowledge about the anthropogenic activity (BEHRE 1981, 1986,1988). However, their works are valid only to the territory of Europe north of the Alps. The Carpathian Basin has its own history; this area has always had an important and unique role in the development of the Holocene vegetation, prehistory and the archaeology of Central Europe. The study of human influence in Hungary started early. B. Zólyomi already in 1930 drew a parallel between the development of Holocene vegetation and the historical-archaeological periods (ZÓLYOMI 1931). A few years later he verified that the changes of forest components in the upper part of pollen profiles was caused by human disturbance (ZÓLYOMI 1936). In his classical work (ZÓLYOMI 1952) he described the vegetational development of the