Water names, using the genetic-motivational criteria, can be divided into two superior groups: deappellative and deproprial hydronyms. Among the hydronyms derived from proper names, one can distinguish between the detoponymic and deanthroponymic. The names of flowing waters from anthroponyms are the subject of this article. Preliminary statistical data regarding deanthroponymic potamonyms in the Vistula river basin, their chronology, naming models, word formation bases and geographical distribution are presented. The results of the analysis show that the deanthroponymic potamonyms account for approximately 6.8% of the names of flowing waters of the Vistula river basin, estimated at more than 13,500. They appear sporadically in documents as early as in the 13th century, with only 12% visible until the 16th century, with most of them not being noticed until the 19th and 20th centuries. Such a statistical distribution is typical for the names of the flowing waters of that basin. Deanthroponymic names of rivers represent a variety of naming models, but most often appear as a part of compound names created with the suffix -ów, one-word formations with the same suffix and derivatives from the suf. -ka. They mainly identify objects located between the Soła River and the Dunajec River, especially in the Dunajec River basin, so in mountainous and submontainous areas, as K. Rymut claimed. The basis of such potamonyms are mainly personal names with different motivations, rarely being ethnonyms and first names.

The hillfort Bojná I–Valy is a part of an early medieval fortification system located in the Považský Inovec mountain range that separates two densely populated settlement areas of Slovakia — namely the valleys of the Nitra and Váh rivers. Judging by the abundance of finds, in the 9th century the 12 hectare hillfort was a prominent seat of social elites. A bronze bell, a collection of gilded figural plaques as well as further symbols substantiate Christian affiliation of the community. The core of the monumental ramparts consists of log chambers with inner grates filled with soil and stones. From the front side, it was protected by a stone shell. Pincer gates had inwardly extended arms and a tower entrance in the front part of the corridor. According to the dendrochronological data, the fortification was erected in the last decade of the 9th century and shortly afterwards destroyed by a fire. Excavations of the bottom part of the ramparts confirmed, however, the presence of remains of an older construction. In this area, there are also four further hillforts providing finds dated back to the Early Middle Ages. At least one of them (Bojná II) was also destroyed by a fire at the end of the 9th century or in the 10th century.

This study presents the results of dendrochronological and dendroclimatological research of Betula pubescens from four sites in northern Norway (Kvaløya Island, Tromsøya Island and Storelva Valley), which provided a 193-year chronology. Our results highlight the importance of the site selection in dendroclimatological studies. We demonstrated that activity of geomorphic processes connected with local topography could led to reduced strength of climatic signal embedded in tree-ring data. Negative pointer years, triggered mainly by unfavourable climatic conditions and insect outbreaks, were common for all site chronologies in 1945, 1955, 1965, 1975, 1986, 2004. However, some site-specific differences were also distinguished. Response function analysis confirmed that June, July and August temperatures were positively correlated with tree-ring widths. This climate-growth relationship was stable throughout the years 1925-2000. From summer temperature reconstruction back to AD 1820, two colder (c. 1835-1850 and 1890-1920) and two warmer (c. 1825-1835 and 1920-1940) periods were identified. The tree-ring record from the Tromsø Region, well correlated between series, sites and climate variables, is an important element of a large-scale reconstruction of pre-instrumental climate variation in the northeastern part of the Atlantic Ocean. Our dendroclimatic reconstruction corresponds well with other climate proxy data, like fluctuations of mountain glaciers in Scandinavia or sea ice extent.

The aim of this article is to verify the data regarding the period when selected foreign nouns were introduced to the Russian language in relation to information provided by Russian dictionaries. A corpus created for the purpose of this paper consists of source texts from the years 1600‒1670 – the time preceding the rule of Peter the Great. The verification of data from Russian dictionaries is expected to show that, contrary to popular opinion, a significant number of foreign words were introduced to the Russian language even a century earlier than suggested in etymology and historical dictionaries. This observation can be proved by the analysis of literary monuments of the first half of the 17th century that have not been thoroughly investigated.

This article is a supplement to Nemeth (2015), in which the absolute and relative chronology of the 18th and 19th century Karaim sound changes was presented with the aim of reconstructing how Middle Western Karaim evolved into its two well-known Modern Western Karaim dialects. Most of the conclusions formulated in Nemeth (2015) are further confirmed in the present article, while a few have been slightly modified.