Late Glacial, Early Holocene and Late Holocene life at the interface of a distinct landscape — relationship of humans and environments in the Sub-Carpathian region (N Hungary)

Abstract

Relationships between the communities and environment surrounding these communities can be disclosed by the application of different archeological, geological and environmental historical methods. This includes the deployment of numerous tools in scientific investigation including the application of chronological, sedimentological, geochemical and paleoecological analytical methods on sequences accumulated in historical catchment basins of peat-bog. The Nádas-tó at Nagybárkány is a small peatbog in the northern part of Hungary, on the Sub-Carpathian region. The formation of the lake can be traced back to the Late Glacial period. The sediments deposited in the lakebed provide a record of climatic and hydrologic changes. A higher water level could be demonstrated from the Late Glacial to the Mid-Holocene, when the reed-beds covered a small area only. This was followed by a hiatus spanning ca. 4400 years, caused by the deepening and cleaning of the lakebed during the Late Iron / Imperial Age, between 2100 - 1900 cal BP years. After this change the water level decreased and the water quality was more eutrophic. A reed-bed evolved around the lake. Paludification started with a bulrush floating mat phase at the close of the Middle Age, ca. 1500 cal AD years. The endowments and settlement pattern persisted from the Neolithic onwards until the terminal Modern Age, when measures aimed to ordain the area substantially altered the natural landscape. Although some anthropogenic disturbances can be reconstructed in the development of the peatland, some climatic effects and authogenic processes might be separated by paleoecological analyses.