Schriften zu Genetischen Ressourcen - Genres

Ethnobotanical studies on cultivated plants. A theoretical approach
molecular, etc.) knowledge of plants on the other side. The explosive growth of constructed
human environment motivated the introduction of a new concept, that of aedobotany
for the study of complex man-and-plant interactions around and inside human
constructions (SZABÓ 1996b).
European archaeobotanical findings illustrate convincingly that ethnobotany of the
Continent (including of course the isles around it) had a major Indo-European integrative
background connected with the Neolithic Revolution, the spreading of agriculture
and the evolution of Indo-European languages. This integration was coloured
of course by many particular tribal traditions. The emergence of organised written
(scientific) knowledge in the Roman Empire amalgamated first the Greek, the Roman
and the “barbarian” ethnobotanical traditions in a European common knowledge on
plants.
The Hebrew ethnobotany (with deep Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Arabic connections)
was also very influential in Medieval Christian Europe. The tradition was strong
and is still alive (HAYNALD 1879, 1894, LÖW 1888 n.c., 1967, HEPPER 1993, KERESZTY
1998, ZOHARY 1986, ZOHARY and HOPF 1993).
The ethnobotanical integration culminated with Renaissance herbalism merging into
European botany also the Asian (Ural-Altaic and Fenno-Ougrian, Hungarian) ethnobotany.
The European common knowledge on plants grew further with the elements
of Eastern and Southern Asian (Chinese, Indian), Northern, Central and Southern
Amer-Indian, African and even Oceanian ethnobotany.
The ancient roots, the medieval influence of Judeo-Christian (Biblical) ethnobotany,
the renaissance herbalism (including knowledge on “exotic” and “introduced” plants)
modulated the picture up to the quality and quantity registered in modern times .
Introversion is a general characteristic of the European ethnobotany. Ethnobotanists
are familiar mostly, if not exclusively with the traditional knowledge of the ethnic
group they belong to, and tend to overestimate it for different reasons on the expense
of other ethnic groups (BORZA 1968, PÉNTEK and SZABÓ 1985, SZABÓ and RAB 1992,
VICKEREY 1997, SZABÓ in BAUER et al. 2001).
Ethnobiodiversity is a complementary concept to agrobiodiversity (HAMMER 1998,
GYULAI 2000). It is a new approach, a new way of thinking about man-and-plant interactions
by including in the study of interactions the different human cultural (ethnic,
language) communities as factors in the evolution and distribution of plants.
The idea emerged in 1990 during a preparatory conference of the environmental Riosummit
(VIDA 1990, SZABÓ 1990). The term was coined later (SZABÓ 1996a, 1997,
1998, 1999).
92