The study and historic reconstruction of the sedimentary sequence, in the Szelim Cave {Tatabánya)

Abstract

The investigation of cave sediments is one of the most important meeting points of Palaeolithic
archaeology and earth sciences. In this paper a complex archaeological, geophysical and
sedimentological analysis of the remains of the cave deposits in the Szelim Cave at Tatabánya, Hungary
is presented.
The investigated sedimentary sequence of the Szelim Cave was reworked by erosion and mass
movements destroyed the original stratification. This paper suggest that the layers of cave sediments can
be identified by carrying out a complex sedimentological and archaeological analysis.
Magnetic susceptibility (MS) measurements were carried out on a cave sediment sequence for the first
time in Hungary. To explain the MS curve grain size, CaC0 3 and humus analyses were completed.
The magnetic susceptibility and sedimentological investigation of the cave deposits of the
"Anthropozoic" period was supplemented with an archaeological study. With this multidisciplinary
approach the palaeoenvironment and the evolution of the Szelim Cave could be reconstructed.