Abstract
AbstractThe study aims to contribute to the medieval environmental history of the eastern periphery of the Transylvanian Plain (Câmpia Transilvaniei/Mezőség). With the help of archaeological and historical data and the multi-aspect analysis of undisturbed core sequences, the economic life of the Pauline Monastery founded in the 14th century near Sâncraiu de Mureş (Marosszentkirály) and the surrounding villages was investigated. The multidisciplinary research focuses on the paleochannels of the Mureş and the artificial watercourses (ditches) that branch off the river, and the mills built on them. The work also provides new data on the general environmental changes in the middle course of the Mureş river during the Middle Ages and the early modern period, which are largely due to the very intense human activity here.
Highlights
The widening section of the Mureş (Maros) valley below Târgu Mureş (Marosvásárhely) is an area highly significant in terms of medieval settlement history and archaeology with regard to both the Szeklers who moved here at the end of the Árpád period and the Transylvanian antecedents of this movement
Previous archaeological research suggests that in this western region as well of what became Szeklerland the settlement pattern was substantially altered during the Árpád period
Based on archaeological data from the area under investigation and archival documents, in this western region of what became Szeklerland, the settlement pattern was substantially altered during the Árpád period
Summary
The widening section of the Mureş (Maros) valley below Târgu Mureş (Marosvásárhely) is an area highly significant in terms of medieval settlement history and archaeology with regard to both the Szeklers who moved here at the end of the Árpád period and the Transylvanian antecedents of this movement. The palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of a filled up oxbow lake of the Malom-berek (‘Mill grove’) by Sâncraiu de Mureș (Marosszentkirály) provides a good illustration of the changes in landscape use, which took place during the formation of Hungarian settlements in the Árpád period. It is especially significant that during the environmental archaeological analysis, in the floodplain of a large river, we were able to identify a unique water management system developed during the Árpád period
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