O. G. Dely szerk.: Vertebrata Hungarica 18. (Budapest, 1978)
Kordos, L.: Historico-zoogeographical and ecological investigation of the subfossil vertebrate fauna of the Aggtelek Karst 85-100. o.
The age of samples 1-6 originating from the 10 m thick continous stratigraphical column excavated in the Nagyoldal Shaft as well as that of the recent sediment (0 layer) complementing this stratigraphy, can be investigated in three ways: a) on the basis of the investigations of their fauna; b) on the basis of the investigations of human osteological remains; c) together with the researches of the region from an archeologieal aspect. a) Layer 0 contains present-day vertebrate species. Only one species of them, the European souslik (Citellus) is lacking from each of the older samples. The main part of the fauna is formed by mice, common vole and bank vole. In the lowermost, 6th layer, one specimen of Ochotona occurred, too - the latest occurrence of which was till then known from the Neolithic (Bükk culture) layer in Aggtelek Cave. Those specimen which in the Neolithic still existed in the area g . Microtus gregalis , Microtus agrestis , Microtus oeconomus) are lacking from the rich vertebrate fauna. Consequently two conclusions can be drawn as far as the occurrence of Ochotona is concerned namely, either it got mixed into the material, or the region can be considered as a reserve area. The first case which seems to be more plausible, not even the oldest part of the stratigraphical column reaches the Neolithic. b) Human skeletal remains were found in the 6th layer and apart from this, (coUected in 19 72) in a larger quantity from levels corresponding roughly to layers 4-3. Skulls and postcranial skeletal bones were investigated in the Anthropological Institute of Kossuth Lajos University of Debrecen by NEMESKÉRI, According to him there is no connection between the human remains of the 6th and those of younger layers. Presumably they represent two different human populations. The human tibiae found in the 6th layer are considerably curved, their cross-sections measured at foramen nutricium are flatter and more sword-like than those in the upper layers. These characteristics refer to platycnemy as a result of sitting on the haunches. For this reason, considering also other finds in Hungary, he defined the bones as older than the Bronze Age. The chemical investigation made by LENGYEL on one of the juvenile humeri of the 6th layer defined the bone as presumably "prehistoric". c) On the basis of our knowledge about the archeology and history of the region we can make an even more exact delimitation. The percentage distribution of the members of vertebrate faune is highly fluctuating in different layers (Figs. 2-3). According to the percentage of species indicating the ratio of forest to fields we observe that in the 6th layer the ratio of fields are greater, in the 5th layer forest predominates while later the ratio of forest to fields can be explained by climatic causes, by the succession of vegetation any by the forest clearing activity of man. During the Neolithic and Late Bronze Age the density of the populations was probably higher than nowadays. Both populations had an enormous forest clearing activity, their aim was most probably to create arable lands and to get timber. The grains of six cultivated plants were reported already by NYÁRY (1881) from Baradla Cave. According to the fauna, however, they cannot represent the activity of Neolithic/Bronze people. In the Late Bronze Age the Kyjatice andHallstatt cultures had a higher popular density on the same area. Their forest clearing activity was demonstrated above by the fauna of the Csapás-tető Cave, too. The characteristic thick-walled, crude ware can be bound also in the Musztáng Cave near Jósvafő,
