Pollen and macroscopic analyses of two Upper Holocene spring fen sites in the vicinity of the Turček village in the south-western foothills of the Kremnické vrchy Mts (central Slovakia) revealed new and unique information on the precultural and natural climazonal forests, and the origin and development of local meadow fen vegetation. Pollen-analytical data indicate the prevalence of natural spruce (Picea abies) and fir (Abies alba) forests in this region. The mixed beech forests depicted on the geobotanical map of Slovakia must have, therefore occupied much smaller areas than previously thought. After human colonization of the region during the 13th and 14th centuries natural forests were transformed mainly into grasslands and pastures, and to a lesser extent into arable fields. These changes were connected with gold and silver mining in the vicinity of the nearby town of Kremnica, with Turček one of the important areas producing timber for the mining industry. The development of these fen mires is also connected with deforestation and transformation of the landscape. They originated as forest springs but after human colonization of the area they were transformed into treeless fen meadows by the direct or indirect effect of man cutting of trees, grazing livestock and mowing.
This contribution presents and interprets the results of the analysis of fauna relics from the Pustý hrad Castle in Zvolen in Central Slovakia. The analysed series comes from the Upper castle, from the half of the 13th to the 14th centuries. A total of 6082 bone fragments weighing about 28 kg were processed. In addition to standard quantification methods (MNI, NISP and weight), the age of the animals and the relative quality of the meat from the body parts represented were also analysed. At the same time, the analysis also considered individual buildings, their location and function, and thus the differences in the representation of species in individual units. Comparisons of results with analogous collections from the late medieval castles of the Hungarian and Czech Kingdoms were not left out either. and Cieľom je predstaviť a interpretovať výsledky analýzy faunálnych pozostatkov z vrcholnostredovekého hradu Pustý hrad vo Zvolene na strednom Slovensku. Analyzovaný súbor pochádza z výskumu Horného hradu Pustého hradu, od polovice 13. až do 14. storočia. Celkovo bolo spracovaných 6082 fragmentov kostí o hmotnosti ca 28 kg. Popri štandardných kvantifikačných metódach (MNI, NISP a hmotnosť) bol sledovaný aj vek zvierat a relatívna kvalita mäsa zo zastúpených častí tiel. Zároveň sa v analýze prihliadalo aj na samostatné objekty, ich polohu a funkciu, a tým aj rozdielnosť v zastúpení druhov u jednotlivých súborov. Opomenuté neboli ani porovnania výsledkov s analogickými súbormi z vrcholnostredovekých hradov Uhorského i Českého kráľovstva.