Ethnobiodiversity and plant genetic resources in the Alp-Balkan-Carpath-Danube (ABCD) area

Abstract

Ethnobiodiversity and plant genetic resources in the Alps-Balkans-Carpathians- Danube (ABCD) area Ethnobiodiversité et ressources génétiques végétales dans l'aire Alpes-Balkans-Carpates- Danube (ABCD) Szabó TA. Abstract : Research into ethnobiodiversity studies the influence on biological diversity of not only ecological conditions but also cultural traditions and the experience accumulated by different human communities. The concept is not widely used due to the fuzzy nature of the system involved. The ABCD area is not a geographical term but a concept proposed for use in ethnobiodiversity studies. It is based on the assumption that the Neolithic Revolution was deterministic for the evolution of European ethnic and environmental diversity and that the process advanced along the Alps-Balkans-Carpathians mountain system as a whole. The role of ethnobiological (biological, zoological) knowledge in the emergence of the Indo-European languages and cultures is a subject of considerable debate. The article examines the case of the Hungarian people as representing the last successful « late-comers » of the Indo-European invasion (sensu Renfrew) or of the Curgan invasions (sensu Gimbutas). The Hungarian case study, which involves a consideration of both crop cultivation and certain grazing activities (mostly horse, sheep and cattle), is completed by the study of two crop categories, that of forage clovers and einkorn wheat. Forage grasses and clovers evolved in the European « gene centre » under the pressure of the similar grazing practices of animal breeders and horse warriors. Einkorn wheat (Triticum Monococcum) evolved under the influence of the practices of the early cultivators and may be regarded in Europe as a living fossil of the Neolithic Revolution.