Pohansko v proměnách času
| Title in English | Pohansko in the Changes of Time |
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| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2025 |
| Type | Requested lectures |
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| Description | Břeclav - Pohansko, an archaeological site located about 3 km south of the centre of Břeclav, was declared a state archaeological reserve in November 1965 and a monument reserve in December 1987. This official heritage protection is proof that the historical significance of the site was recognised very soon after archaeological research began. Pohansko first became widely known in 1892, through the work of the historian and patron Ch. d'Elvert. In 1928, the Moravian archaeologist I. L. Červinka introduced Pohansko as an important early medieval monument to the literature. In 1958, F. Kalousek, then an associate professor at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Brno, came to the site and decided to establish a scientific base there. From that time until the present day, archaeological research has been carried out at Pohansko under the auspices of the Institute of Archaeology and Museology of the Faculty of Arts of MU. Pohansko is located on an elevation rising from the valley floodplain of the lower Dyje River. At present, the site is surrounded by floodplain forests or what is left of them. The alternation of succession and forest retreat in this area is documented for the entire Holocene period. Palynological studies record differences in the representation of different plant species (forest, meadows, agricultural or ruderal plants, species typical of wet or dry environments). These differences are and were also caused by human activities - deforestation, agricultural exploitation of the land, etc. The first significant forest retreat is recorded in the Neolithic and Eneolithic periods (ca. 7000-2500 BC). In the Bronze Age, the human impact on the landscape became less pronounced. The succession of the forest started and was only halted again in the Iron Age, around 800 BC. The most massive deforestation occurred in the early Middle Ages, specifically during the existence of the Pohansko settlement, which is the second half of the 9th century AD. Palynological profiles taken in the area around the hillfort bear records of river flood activity. Research in the foreground of the hillfort has documented a 10th-century settlement that was located on the flood clays, but was also overlain by another layer of flood clay after its demise, but which may have been formed only in the early modern period. The study of the development of the environment is an important part of the historical and archaeological research of Pohansko and its wider surroundings. It helps us to reconstruct the extinct historical landscape (localization of paleo-arms, floodplain aggradation, degree of impact of anthropogenic indicators). Studying the historical evolution of the landscape can then help to understand contemporary landscape phenomena and use them to the benefit of nature and people. |