Near the Hungarian village of Szólád, a small burial ground of the Longobard period was investigated archaeologically and scientifically. This first volume of the evaluation of the evidence is devoted to the study of soils and plants, of the remains of birds and fish, and of course of the people buried here. We learn not only how the graves were laid out and the dead buried, but also how a small farming community at the transition from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages shaped the landscape at Lake Balaton and used the local resources. <br>