LAND USE OF THE SETTLEMENTS OF SZIGETKÖZ IN THE 18TH AND 19TH CENTURY
Abstract
The paper is an introduction to the 18th and 19th century characteristics of a “wounded” area of Hungary, at a time when the impact of human activity on the transformation of the area was still negligible. The Szigetköz was already inhabited before river regulations and water management works, and the still existing villages “occupied their final positions” by the time in our examination, although they went through some administrative changes by the 20th century. The present image of the villages reveals the look of the settlements before the river regulations. Until the 19th century, typical agricultural activities in this area were extensive animal husbandry and closely related extensive farming and the agricultural production showed separate zones, surrounding the villages in a more or less circular shape. In this micro-region land use, and the occupations and crafts of the people were determined by the physical geographical endowments of the area before the river regulations. The following occupations linked to water and the wet landscape were wide-spread: fishing, gold washing and hunting. In addition, the area was famous for its watermills, trackers, ferrymen and shepherds. The water regulation works resulted in a fundamental change in the character of the area: settlement went through a significant transformation and were launched on a path of development; animal husbandry lost much of its importance, though it had been the dominant branch of agriculture until the 19th century. The micro-region became one of the most important territories of Hungary in crop growing. As a result of the anthropogeneous impacts on the landscape, “indigenous” land use and occupations disappeared from this micro-region.
