Abstract
Palynological research was carried out on layers archaeologically dated to the early Middle Ages in the basement of the former Austrian hospital at Wawel. The interpretation was based on the sparse number of sporomorphs presented in the samples, not on the percentages.At the end of the first millennium, on the Wawel Hill and in its vicinity, an open landscape developed with a mosaic of plant communities, including ruderal ones, fields, pastures, and meadows, as well as bushes and forests. Sporomorphs reached the analysed area partially naturally, with pollen rain from plants growing at sites in the Wawel Castle itself and from the immediate or further surroundings of the Wawel Hill. Some sporomorphs reached the examined layers because of human activity: partly accidentally during normal life activities, and partly with material goods brought to Wawel for utility purposes. The interpretation is consistent with the results of palaeobotanical studies from other analysed sites in Wawel (Wasylikowa et al. 2006; Nalepka 2009).
Highlights
The Wawel Hill in Cracow (Fig. 1A), together with the buildings on its slopes and on its top, has undergone numerous changes in the past, including random natural events and planned or accidental human activity, involving intervention in the geological structure, living nature, and the material that it creates.Palaeobotanical research on the Wawel Hill commenced after the end of World War II in the 1950s, and continued in the 1970s, always conducted alongside archaeological research (Wasylikowa 1978a; 1978b), when uncovering successive historical layers that could contain plant debris, established cooperation with palaeobotanists
It should be mentioned that the material collected on the Wawel Hill has not always been completely examined, and only some of it has been included in publications along with other palaeobotanical studies
On the Wawel Hill and at Wawel itself, another reason is the absence of layers and sediments containing microscopic organic plant remains
Summary
The Wawel Hill in Cracow (Fig. 1A), together with the buildings on its slopes and on its top, has undergone numerous changes in the past, including random natural events and planned or accidental human activity, involving intervention in the geological structure, living nature, and the material that it creates (construction and reconstruction).Palaeobotanical research on the Wawel Hill commenced after the end of World War II in the 1950s, and continued in the 1970s, always conducted alongside archaeological research (Wasylikowa 1978a; 1978b), when uncovering successive historical layers that could contain plant debris, established cooperation with palaeobotanists. It should be mentioned that the material collected on the Wawel Hill has not always been completely examined, and only some of it has been included in publications along with other palaeobotanical studies. This happened, for example, with the results of palynological investigations from one of the Wawel sites previously studied (at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s) by Wanda Koperowa that were published only in a paper by K. On the Wawel Hill and at Wawel itself, another reason is the absence of layers and sediments containing microscopic organic plant remains (pollen grains and spores). The main factor destroying organic residues is aeration under aerobic conditions (Nalepka 1999; Makohonienko and Nalepka 2007)
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