Life at the interface of two distinct landscapes-relationship of humans and environment in the periphery of the Danube-Tisza Interfluve between Hajós and Császártöltés

Abstract

Recent archeological and geoarcheological investigations have corroborated the notion of close interaction between man and environment in our study area during historical times. The riparian Sárköz, forming an interface between two major geographical regions of Transdanubia and the Great Hungarian Plains, has been continuously inhabited for the past 8000 years. Settlements were generally confined to areas above 90.5-91m ASL, with the exception of a few drier periods. This elevation can therefore be regarded as the margin of human settlement. The lower-lying areas correspond to the actual floodplain inundated for the major part of the year from which lag-surfaces stand out as island-like natural highs hosting the settlements themselves. 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. © Versita sp. z o.o.