The present paper is based on the presentation held on 31st March 2009 at the Hungarian National Museum on a workshop entitled "Archaeology – Geology - Pedology – how far have we got with palaeoecological reconstructions?” organised by the Archaeometry Workshop. Following paper intends to present the brief history and theoretical development of the discipline called phytolith analysis and intends to give a basic theoretical background of various methodological aspects, before discussing certain issues and experimental relations gained in Hungarian case studies.

The function of the uppermost Earth cover – defined as soil – is multifarious. Besides being the most important medium for crop cultivation and buffer of contaminations, it shelters the ’memories’ of human history in the form of many different phenomena. Not only macrofossils or archaeological findings transmit information on how people managed their environment, but microscopic remains formed in and by living organisms are equipped with notable information package, too.

Phytolith analysis went through several phases of development during the last two centuries until the most important baselines of the discipline evolved. Nowadays these principles are widely used in environmental archaeology, palaeoecology and landscape studies. Tracing the development of the discipline provides useful lessons for all of those applying the method in environmental studies.

During the building of a soil-phytolith database, a wooded pasture in the Bakony Mountains was selected as a target area too conduct controll studies for the further development of the reference database. An ecological classification system was used to conduct the analysis of the target area, which was once densily covered by decidous forest. Environmental change classified by ’forest – ploughland – wooded pasture’ was underlined by the results of the controll Luvisol profile.