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> Environment and eploitation of aquatic resources by members of the Körös culture as revealed by the analysis of mollusks retrieved from sites along the northern margin ...
The earliest agriculturalists on the Great Hungarian Plain (Alföld), known as Körös Culture appeared sometime during towards the end of the seventh millennium BC, shortly after the Neolithic became well-established in the southern Balkans. According to detailed archeological investigations, the economic basis of this cultural group was rather bifocal. Besides ! farming and animal husbandry, the traditional Mesolithic foraging continued to be important given the location of the sites was near water as well on the floodplain of the river Tisza and its tributaries. Nevertheless, very little is known about the actual importance of these aquatic resources including shellfish in the life of these communities, not to mention patterns of temporal variations. General field surveys talk about large heaps of shells implying the importance of this resource in the lives of these communities, but no details is given about the composition or other parameters of the harvested fauna. Here we would like to present the findings of detailed archeomalacological investigations implemented at three sites located in the Middle Tisza valley of the Great Hungarian Plain, corresponding to the northern margin of the distribution of the referred cultural group. Analysis was targeting the aquatic mollusk faunas and terrestrial mollusk faunas of the sites, as a! quatic mollusks are generally represent cultural components of! site fo rmation in contrast to terrestrial mollusk representing natural accumulations. Thus composition and other quantified parameters of the aquatic mollusks retrieved from the sites can inform us about various aspects of shellfishing (environment, intensity, selectivity, seasonality). Conversely, the paleoecological parameters inferred from the analysis of the terrestrial mollusk fauna convey information about the vegetation and microclimatic conditions of the site itself. A comparative analysis of the two faunas thus can inform us about both the environmental conditions of the flood-free sites located on natural highs of the floodplain and the adjacent aquatic habitats (flood-water drainage channels, backswamps, riverbeds, floodplain etc) on the one hand. On the other hand, it can reveal the importance and provenience as well as utilization of aquatic resources as reflected by the shellfish material of the sites. The temporal evolution and importance of shellfishing could have! been also studied from the beginning of site formation. The inferred environmental gradients were correlated with environmental proxies from Europe and the Carpathian Basin to see whether changes in the provenience of shellfish material and/or microclimatic conditions reflected by the terrestrial mollusks could be linked to major environmental events.
e-mail: gulyas-sandor@t-online.hu
ENVIRONMENT AND EPLOITATION OF AQUATIC RESOURCES BY MEMBERS OF THE KÖRÖS CULTURE AS REVEALED BY THE ANALYSIS OF MOLLUSKS RETRIEVED FROM SITES ALONG THE NORTHERN MARGIN ...
Sándor GulyásThe earliest agriculturalists on the Great Hungarian Plain (Alföld), known as Körös Culture appeared sometime during towards the end of the seventh millennium BC, shortly after the Neolithic became well-established in the southern Balkans. According to detailed archeological investigations, the economic basis of this cultural group was rather bifocal. Besides ! farming and animal husbandry, the traditional Mesolithic foraging continued to be important given the location of the sites was near water as well on the floodplain of the river Tisza and its tributaries. Nevertheless, very little is known about the actual importance of these aquatic resources including shellfish in the life of these communities, not to mention patterns of temporal variations. General field surveys talk about large heaps of shells implying the importance of this resource in the lives of these communities, but no details is given about the composition or other parameters of the harvested fauna. Here we would like to present the findings of detailed archeomalacological investigations implemented at three sites located in the Middle Tisza valley of the Great Hungarian Plain, corresponding to the northern margin of the distribution of the referred cultural group. Analysis was targeting the aquatic mollusk faunas and terrestrial mollusk faunas of the sites, as a! quatic mollusks are generally represent cultural components of! site fo rmation in contrast to terrestrial mollusk representing natural accumulations. Thus composition and other quantified parameters of the aquatic mollusks retrieved from the sites can inform us about various aspects of shellfishing (environment, intensity, selectivity, seasonality). Conversely, the paleoecological parameters inferred from the analysis of the terrestrial mollusk fauna convey information about the vegetation and microclimatic conditions of the site itself. A comparative analysis of the two faunas thus can inform us about both the environmental conditions of the flood-free sites located on natural highs of the floodplain and the adjacent aquatic habitats (flood-water drainage channels, backswamps, riverbeds, floodplain etc) on the one hand. On the other hand, it can reveal the importance and provenience as well as utilization of aquatic resources as reflected by the shellfish material of the sites. The temporal evolution and importance of shellfishing could have! been also studied from the beginning of site formation. The inferred environmental gradients were correlated with environmental proxies from Europe and the Carpathian Basin to see whether changes in the provenience of shellfish material and/or microclimatic conditions reflected by the terrestrial mollusks could be linked to major environmental events.
e-mail: gulyas-sandor@t-online.hu
