Cave bear (Ursus spelaeus Rosenmüller & Heinroth) males' den from Velika Pećina in Duboka Near Kučevo, Eastern Serbia

More a 100 years after the first research in the cave Velika pećina in Duboka near Kučevo cave bear remains were discovered in a small chamber cut off from the passable channels by a 7 m high slope. A whole skull, bones of a forearm in articulation, and other skeleton parts were laying on the cave floor encrusted in travertine cover and in some places overgrown by stalagmites. Bones belonged to adult males, which found there the shelter to hibernate, in a short epizode that ended by closing the channels that once linked this part of the cave to a surface

A LATE PLEISTOCENE RODENT FAUNA (MAMMALIA: RODENTIA) FROM HADŽI PRODANOVA CAVE NEAR IVANJICA (WESTERN SERBIA)

Hadži Prodanova Cave in western Serbia is a multilayered site which, in addition to Palaeolithic tools, has yielded a relatively rich fauna of small and large vertebrates. In this paper the rodent fauna from this site is described. In total, 13 species of rodents have been found: Spermophilus cf. citelloides, Sicista subtilis, Mesocricetus newtoni, Arvicola cf. terrestris, Chionomys nivalis, Microtus arvalis/agrestis, Microtus subterraneus, Clethrionomys glareolus, Apodemus sylvaticus, Apodemus cf. uralensis, Spalax sp., Muscardinus avellanarius. This fauna has a mixed character and includes species of both open and forest habitats, the former being more numerous. According to its overall composition, it is tentatively ascribed to a relatively mild and wet period of the Last Glacial, probably MIS 3

Technological changes and population movements in the late lower and early middle paleolithic of the central Balkans

Recent archaeological investigations have enabled preliminary insight into the Lower to Middle Paleolithic transition in the Central Balkans. Industries containing tools made from pebbles and flakes, within which Levallois artifacts were present to a lesser (Kosovska Kosa) or greater (Samaila) extent, have been encountered at the sites in the Zapadna Morava valley. The Charentian, likely dating to the Middle Pleistocene (possibly MIS 7) on the basis of microfaunal remains, has been reported in Velika and Mala Balanica in Sićevo. With regard to later (MIS 5–4) industries, assemblages of Typical Mousterian (Crvena Stijena, Hadži Prodanova cave), Charentian (Pešturina) and assemblages where Taubachian–Charentian component, Charentian elements, and backed bifaces are combined (Petrovaradin fortress) are encountered in the Central Balkans. After examining all available data, we propose the hypothesis that in addition to climatic, ecological, and behavioral factors, demographic factors also probably had considerable impact on the variability of lithic assemblages. Migrations and cultural transmission could have resulted in the appearance of Near Eastern elements in the Central Balkans as well as Balkan elements in the Near East. The homogeneity and/or variability of industries could be considerably influenced by the degree of isolation of human groups living in this region

Mandible shape differentiation between Mammuthus trogontherii and M . primigenius and mandible shape ontogeny in M . primigenius specimens from Serbia : A preliminary explorative geometric morphometric study

In this paper, explorative analyses of mandible shape differentiation between two successive species of mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius and . Mammuthus trogontherii) and mandible shape ontogeny within . Mammuthus primigenius are presented. Although the sample studied is relatively small (only 15 individuals), analysis of interspecific shape differences yielded statistically significant results, while analysis of shape ontogeny did not have statistical support. The visualisation of shape differences showed that the older species, . M. trogontherii, had a proportionally wider and dorsoventrally flatter mandible with wider occlusal surfaces, while the latter species had a narrower and taller mandible with narrower, more elongated occlusal surfaces. These morphological differences could be related to a dietary shift as the vegetation changed from steppe and forest-steppe in the middle Pleistocene to the more xeromorph vegetation of steppe-tundra and tundra-steppe of the late Pleistocene. Our analysis shows that even small sample sizes have statistically well supported differences in mandibular morphology in successive species of . Mammuthus

Late Pleistocene Squamate Reptiles from the Baranica Cave near Knjaževac (Eastern Serbia)

The Late Pleistocene layers (2-4) of the Baranica Cave near Knjaževac (Eastern Serbia) contain rich and diverse vertebrate fauna, as well as several Palaeolithic artefacts. The squamate reptile fauna contains three lizard and six ophidian (snakes) taxa (Lacerta agilis, Lacertidae indet., Anguis fragilis, Zamenis cf. longissimus, Coronella austriaca, Coronella cf. austriaca, cf. Natrix sp., Vipera cf. berus, Vipera sp.). This is only the second of Late Pleistocene herpetofauna described from Serbia. It consists of the forms mainly characteristic for cold and temperate semi-open regions. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 176015 and Grant no. 177023

Stratigraphic characteristics of quaternary deposits on the left bank of the Sava River near Belgrade

Quaternary deposits on the banks of the Sava River in the Belgrade area have a significant thickness and they are represented by genetically different formations. The data about these sediments were obtained by exploration of two relatively shallow boreholes, RB 47/P-1 and RB 53/P-1, located on the left bank of the Sava River. Two genetic entities are distinguished: the lacustrine-palustrine deposits of Plio-Pleistocene age and alluvial deposits of Pleistocene and Holocene age. Deposits of the Plio-Pleistocene are clearly different, both lithologically and palaeontologically, from the overlying alluvial deposits. Lithologically similar fluvial deposits of the Pleistocene and Holocene age were distinguished according to their palaeontological characteristics, particulary by the presence of bivalve genera Corbicula and Dreissena. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 176015 and Grant no. 177023

Late pleistocene rodents (mammalia: rodentia) from the baranica cave near Knjazevac (Eastern Serbia): systematics and palaeoecology

Baranica is a cave in the Balkan mountain range in the eastern part of Serbia. It contains four layers of sediments of Quaternary age. The Upper Pleistocene deposits (layers 2-4) have yielded a rich and diverse assemblage of vertebrate fauna, including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and small and large mammals. In this work, preliminary results of a study of the rodent fauna from the Upper Pleistocene deposits of the Baranica Cave (Knjazevac, eastern Serbia) are presented. The fossil material comes from the 1995 archaeological excavation. The remains of 10 rodent species are described herein: Spermophilus cf. citelloides, Castor fiber, Sicista subtilis, Cricetulus migratorius, Cricetus cricetus, Mesocricetus newtoni, Apodemus ex gr. sylvaticus-flavicollis, Spalax leucodon, Dryomys nitedula, and Muscardinus avellanarius. Along with eight vole species, this makes altogether 18 species of rodents found in this locality. Both layers 2 and 4 (layer 3 is very poor in fossils) have yielded a rodent fauna typical for the cold periods of the Late Pleistocene on the Balkan Peninsula, with a prevalence of open and steppe inhabitants, but some forest dwellers were also present. The assemblages from these layers are similar, but there are some differences in the composition of the fauna, which may indicate a slight shift towards drier conditions. They have also been compared to rodent associations from some Serbian and Bulgarian localities of the same age and their similarities and differences are discussed

Quaternary tectonic and depositional evolution of eastern Srem (northwest Serbia)

The area of eastern Srem is situated in the southern periphery of the Pannonian basin. Its depositional evolution during the Neogene and the Quaternary has been controlled by tectonic processes. Miocene extensional subsidence was followed by the Pliocene-Quaternary inversion of the basin. The latter was accomplished as the result of replacement of the tensile by the compressive stress field. Since the Late Neogene, the regional tectonic activity has been controlled by compressive stress produced by the northnortheastern propagation of the Adria microplate. In the compressive NE-SW-oriented stress field, the recent structural plan of the Pannonian basin and its wider environment, including its southern periphery, was reactivated. The youngest tectonic deformations are characterized by positive and negative vertical motions of large intrabasinal segments and basinal periphery, resulting in the final inversion of the basin. The effects of the basinal inversion can be recognized in genetic features of Quaternary sediments and geomorphological characteristics of the relief. Sources of data used for the interpretation of the Quaternary tectonic activity in the area of eastern Srem are of geological, geomorphological, thermochronological, and geophysical character. The positions of prominent fault structures have been ascertained by remote sensing, interpretations of available geophysical cross-sections, and using the field data. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 176015