Vegetation on the Wawel Hill, Cracow (Poland) in the early Middle Ages based on the fragmentary pollen record. Archaeological research excavation in the basement of building No. 9

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).