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

Balkan Neanderthals: The Late Pleistocene palaeoecological sequence of Pešturina Cave (Niš, Serbia)

The Central Balkans are a key biogeographical region in Southern Europe, influenced by a central European-Mediterranean climate, which acted as a refugium for flora and fauna, and favored the dispersion of Neanderthals and migration of modern human populations during Late Glacial Period. This study presents pollen analyses of sediment and hyaena coprolites from Pešturina Cave in Serbia to reconstruct the vegetation landscapes faced by Balkan Neanderthals and early Anatomically Modern Humans between MIS 5e-3. Between MIS 5e-5c (archaeological layers 4c and 4b) and MIS 5b-5a (layer 4a), semi-forested environments prevailed, characterized by Pinus, deciduous Quercus, Tilia and other angiosperm woody taxa, accompanied by heliophytes such as Artemisia and Poaceae. During MIS 4-3 (layers 3-2), the vegetation was dominated by Artemisia-Poaceae steppes with Quercus patches, conifers and legumes. Overall across the sequence, pollen assemblages are highly diverse and include a number of deciduous trees and sclerophylls. In addition, the occurrence of several herbaceous taxa reinforces the view that the Balkans were outstanding for endemicity. Neanderthals and early Upper Palaeolithic hominins lived in a highly diverse refugium, offering multiple opportunities for survival during the warm interstadials and, more critically, the cold stadials of the Pleistocene.This work was supported by the projects: i) HOMEDSCAPE PID2022- 136832NB-I00, funded by FEDER/Ministry of Science and Innovation–Agencia Estatal de Investigación, and ii) European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant agreement number 818299; SUBSILIENCE project). The work of JO was funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU (Margarita Salas postdoctoral grant, Ministerio de Universidades of the Government of Spain). The work of DuM and KB was supported by the NEEMO project of the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia (7746827), while funding was provided to MR by NSERC RGPIN- 2017-04702 and 499 RGPIN-2019-04113

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

Late Pleistocene voles (Arvicolinae, Rodentia) from the Baranica Cave (Serbia)

Baranica is a cave system situated in the south-eastern part of Serbia, four kilometers south to Knjazevac, on the right bank of the Trgoviski Timok. The investigations in Baranica were conducted from 1994 to 1997 by the Faculty of Philosophy from Belgrade and the National Museum of Knjazevac. Four geological layers of Quaternary age were recovered. The abundance of remains of both large and small mammals was noticed in the early phase of the research. In this paper, the remains of eight vole species are described: Arvicola terrestris (Linnaeus, 1758), Chionomys nivalis (Martins, 1842), Microtus (Microtus) arvalis (Pallas, 1778) and Microtus (Microtus) agrestis (Linnaeus, 1761), Microtus (Stenocranius) gregalis (Pallas, 1779), Microtus (Terricola) subterraneus (de Selys-Longchamps, 1836), Clethrionomys glareolus (Schreber, 1780) and Lagurus lagurus (Pallas, 1773). Among them, steppe and open area inhabitants prevail. Based on the evolutionary level and dimensions of the Arvicola terrestris molars, as well as the overall characteristics of the fauna, it was concluded that the deposits were formed in the last glacial period of the Late Pleistocene. These conclusions are rather consistent with the absolute dating of large mammal bones (23.520 +/- 110 B. P. for Layer 2 and 35.780 +/- 320 B.P. for Layer 4)

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

Intraspecific differentiation and sexual dimorphism in giant deer ( Megaloceros giganteus Blumenbach, 1799; Artiodactyla, Cervidae) skulls found in Serbia

We conducted a study of intraspecific differentiation and sexual dimorphism in skulls of giant deer found in Serbia by employing methods of geometric morphometrics. The sample consisted of nine males (seven belonging to Megaloceros giganteus cf. ruffii and two belonging to subspecies M. giganteus cf. giganteus) and two females (both classified as M. giganteus cf. ruffii), photographed in ventral and lateral views. The statistical analyses did find significant shape differences between possible subspecies and sexes for the lateral cranium view but not for the ventral. Possible subspecies differed in the overall skull robustness. Sexual shape dimorphism consisted of transition from higher and elongated skulls in females, to more robust and dorsoventrally flattened skulls in males. The allometry was not proven to be statistically significant, but the shape changes related to size variation could be visually described. Some of the shape differences related to sexual dimorphism can be interpreted as an adaptation for bearing large antlers in males. Even with small sample size, we got statistically supported differences between possible subspecies and sexual shape dimorphism in the lateral view of the giant deer skull. In analyses that showed no statistical support, methods of geometric morphometrics still provided good visualization of shape variation

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