The significance of ethnographic collections in the research of traditional plant and landscape knowledge in Orosháza (SE Hungary) and its surroundings

Abstract

In addition to perpetuating the traditional peasant life and farming of the Orosháza and Hódmezővásárhely countryside (Great Hungarian Plain, SE Hungary), ethnographic collections often cover, to a greater or lesser extent, ethnobotanical knowledge, even if they are not aimed at it. The present review refers also to the domestic history of ethnobotany, the connection of ecology to the natural and social sciences, as well as the changes in the landscape, vegetation and population history that affected the investigated site of folklore research in the 1950s and 1970s. We assumed that the results of these ethnographic collections are suitable for processing from the point of view of applied botany and natural geography. Although these surveys often contain only botanical words and groups of words (the least technical terms), but not illustrations, detailed descriptions, or characterizations, a lot can still be learned from them about the local people’s knowledge related to plants. The studies were systematically surveyed to extract information on plant taxonomy, plant communities and stands, use of plants and soil, plant-derived products, objects and tools of plant origin, farm working, procedures, places, names and habits. The results are supported by the author’s own personal observations and experiences. Due to the nature of topic, studies on food, feed, folk medicine, trade, beekeeping, small crafts, and land use are very rich in words related to plants. This survey is based on 130 publications cited and a number of other works referenced. The resulting extensive database which is available as electronic supplement, contains 438 items collected from 49 ethnographic and local history works in a botanically appropriate structure and content. 301 plant names considered as indexed keywords belong to raw materials, crops, tools, habitats, cultivars, varieties and other groups. The result of the thorough ethnographic interview and descriptive research methods of the cited researchers is the relatively rich dataset on traditional knowledge of nature, but botanical aspect is of a secondary nature, i.e. not targeted by the authors, prevailed in the examined works. For us, they have the limitations of cognition, but they still fill knowledge gaps and are valuable for the exploration and preservation of Hungarian folk plant knowledge. The botanical data in the studies examined faithfully reflect the everyday practice of the 1950s and 1970s. In some cases, these practices follow centuries-old traditions.

The fluctuating change, boom and decline of the culture has left a deep mark on the development of the natural steppe, i.e., the strong historical deterioration of the natural landscape belonging to the settlements and surroundings. With the repopulation of the countryside by an ethnic group of Transdanubian origin in 1744, the development took a new direction, driven by river regulation, drainage, grazing animal husbandry, changes in the agricultural and horticultural practices, economic structure, trade, and population. In addition, the peculiarities attributable to adaptive family farming, which referred primarily to the diverse environmental conditions, prevailed and then subsided until the recent radical change in the farming system and lifestyle of the population.