Inventing Metallurgy in Western Eurasia: a Look Through the Microscope Lens

The quest for the ‘when’ and ‘where’ of the world's earliest metallurgy has been dominating scholarly research on this topic for decades. This paper looks beyond the question of origins by discussing ‘how’ and ‘why’ metallurgy was invented. It looks into choices and skills involved in selection, experimentation and processing of distinctively coloured copper minerals and ores throughout c. 2000 years in the Balkans. The body of evidence is built around the currently earliest evidence for copper smelting, dated at c. 5000 bc and discovered in the Serbian Vinča culture site of Belovode. The ‘microstructure’ of a metal invention process is explored through optical and compositional analyses of a selection of copper minerals and metal production evidence: ores, slags, slagged sherds and metal droplets recovered from seven settlements in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, altogether dated between the late seventh and the late fifth millennia bc. This research suggests an independent technological trajectory of the emergence of metallurgy in the Balkans based on a unique technological meme, black and green mineral, which follows the evolution of early metallurgy from mono- to polymetallic within the fifth millennium bc

Paint It Black: The Rise of Metallurgy in the Balkans

This paper integrates archaeological, material, microstructural and compositional data of c. 7,000 years old metallurgical production evidence with the aim to address the knowledge of the world’s earliest metalworkers. The main focus is placed on copper minerals, ores, slags, slagged sherds and metal droplets coming from four Vinča culture settlements in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina: Belovode, Pločnik, Vinča and Gornja Tuzla, all dated between c. 5400 and 4400 BC. Chemical study of copper minerals throughout all sites points at striking uniformity in selecting black and green minerals from the early days of the settlements’ occupation, some of which predate the metal smelting events. Microstructural examination of metal production debris showed convincing technological similarity throughout c. six centuries of copper making in the studied sites, as well as a consistent choice of black and green ores for metal extraction. We argue that black and green ores were intentionally selected as ingredients for the metal smelting ‘recipe’ in the early stages of Balkan metallurgy based on the knowledge related to their characteristic visual aspects. This finding demonstrates how important the adequate combination of colours was for the early copper metalworkers and suggests a unique technological trajectory for the evolution of metallurgy in this part of the world. It also illustrates the capacity that micro-research carries in addressing the how and why of the emergence of metallurgy, and outlines a methodology for future studies of early metallurgies worldwide

Measuring concentration and market power of economic entities in function of improving competition policy

In economic theory, it is generally accepted thesis that greater competition increases economic efficiency and hence overall social welfare. Therefore, the establishment of competitive market structure is one of the primary intentions of every market-oriented economy. The practice of developed countries clearly confirmed that law and competition policy are an essential part of the institutional framework within which effective market economy operates. All of the key phenomena dealt by competition policy are explained on the basis of modern economics findings. Economic explanation of these occurrences allows cognition of causes, mechanisms and consequences of the phenomenon of competition and its distortion. The aim of this thesis is to highlight the importance of competition policy and to contribute to the identification and analysis of non-competitive market structures, i.e. anti-competitive behavior of market participants. The proposed theoretical-methodological and econometric instrumentation allows analysis of market structure, analysis of market participants behavior and the analysis of effects of that behavior on economic efficiency and social welfare. Results obtained by these analytical apparatus provides a good basis for objective, unbiased, and (to some extent) standardized reasoning and identification of anti-competitive behavior. An empirical examination of the proposed instruments in done on the example of the Serbian sugar market. The results indicate significant problems facing Serbia in the process of building an efficient market economy based on competition

M-GAM method in function of tourism potential assessment: Case study of the Sokobanja basin in eastern Serbia

The Sokobanja basin is an area in Eastern Serbia with diverse geological and geomorphological features. Also, it is an area with developed spa tourism. The Sokobanja basin has numerous geoheritage features, which tourist potential has not been discovered yet. In this article, several geosites were analyzed, which present significant geoheritage formations. Geosites were selected by authors of this article based on the degree of their attractiveness for the geotourism development. The main goal of this article is to emphasize the geotourism potential of the Sokobanja basin and to determine the current state and geotourism potential of evaluated geosites by applying the modified geosite assessment model (M-GAM). A total of seven geosites were evaluated throughout the basin. The values of the investigated parameters were entered into the matrix of the M-GAM based on the number of points. Based on the research and the results obtained, it can be concluded that the Sokobanja basin has the potential for the development of geotourism, but it is necessary to improve additional values to become a true geotourism destination

Helianthus annuus: A new important element of the non-arable and arable flora in Serbia’s region of southern Banat

Four species of the Helianthus genus have been found in the non-arable and arable communities in Vojvodina and Serbia, namely: H. annuus, H. tuberosus, H. decapetalus and H. scaberimus. Studies conducted hitherto have shown that Helianthus annuus has the highest frequency in all weed phytocoenoses examined so far. The spreading of H. decapetalus and H. scaberimus, introduced to Vojvodina from the neighboring Hungary and Romania, has still not assumed alarming proportions in quantitative terms, but a tendency has been observed of their further spreading. It is therefore necessary to monitor and study the trend of their expansion over the coming period.

Comparison and assessment of electricity generation capacity for different types of photovoltaic solar plants of 1MW in Sokobanja, Serbia

This paper gives the results of the electricity generated by the fixed, one-axis and dual-axis tracking photovoltaic solar plant of 1 MW with flat panels made of monocrystalline silicon which is to be built in the area of Sokobanja (spa in Serbia). Further on follows a description of the functioning of the fixed and one-axis and dual-axis tracking solar plants. For the calculation of the electricity generated by these plants PVGIS program was used. Calculations have shown that fixed photovoltaic solar plant power of 1 MW, solar modules of mono-crystalline silicon yield 1130000 kWh power output, one-axis tracking solar plant yields 1420000 kWh, and dual-axis tracking solar plant yields 1450000 kWh of electricity. Electricity generated by the fixed photovoltaic solar plant could satisfy 86% of the annual needs for the electricity of the 'Zdravljak' hotel and the special 'Novi stacionar' hospital in Sokobanja

Pyrotechnological connections? Re-investigating the link between pottery firing technology and the origins of metallurgy in the Vinča Culture, Serbia

The present paper re-examines the purported relationship between Late Neolithic/Early Chalcolithic pottery firing technology and the world's earliest recorded copper metallurgy at two Serbian Vinča culture sites, Belovode and Pločnik (c. 5350 to 4600 BC). A total of eighty-eight well-dated sherds including dark-burnished and graphite-painted pottery that originate across this period have been analysed using a multi-pronged scientific approach in order to reconstruct the raw materials and firing conditions that were necessary for the production of these decorative styles. This is then compared to the pyrotechnological requirements and chronology of copper smelting in order to shed new light on the assumed, yet rarely investigated, hypothesis that advances in pottery firing technology in the late 6th and early 5th millennia BC Balkans were an important precursor for the emergence of metallurgy in this region at around 5000 BC. The results of this study and the recent literature indicate that the ability to exert sufficiently close control over the redox atmosphere in a two-step firing process necessary to produce graphite-painted pottery could indeed link these two crafts. However, graphite-painted pottery and metallurgy emerge at around the same time, both benefitting from the pre-existing experience with dark-burnished pottery and an increasing focus on aesthetics and exotic minerals. Thus, they appear as related technologies, but not as one being the precursor to the other

Liver cystic echinococcosis in humans — a study of 30 cases

The aim of this study is to demonstrate the clinical manifestations and diagnostic approach to liver hydatid disease and suggest its treatment. The prospective study was carried out on 30 patients with liver hydatidosis. Hepatologic examinations were based on: medical history, physical examination, biochemical and serological tests, ultrasonography and computed tomography scanning. Twenty-five (83.3 %) patients underwent radical cyst resection, while in 5 (16.7 %) cases liver resection with left lobectomy was also performed. Hydatid cyst was histopathologically verified in all the patients. Our results showed that the patients with multiple cysts had impaired functional liver tests significantly more often than patients with unilocular cyst. In addition, ultrasonography and computed tomography scans are the valid imaging procedures in diagnosis. Radical, surgical resection of hepatic hydatid cysts is the goal of treatment

Morfološka i molekularna identifikacija populacija cistolikih nematoda krompira u Srbiji

Quarantine species such as potato cyst nematodes Globodera rostochiensis and G. pallida are present in Serbia since 1999 and 2005, respectively. These nematodes are sibling species and their morphological identification is complex due to their morphometric overlap. The cysts from the localities of Kladnica, Šanac, Gojna Gora and Milatovići were grown on susceptible potato varieties and their morphological differences have been discussed. To avoid ambiguities in species morphological designation a duplex PCR method was chosen for a rapid and accurate species identification. The whole procedure, from DNA extraction to DNA isolation, can be performed in a single day.Karantinske vrste kao što su cistolike nematode krompira Globodera rostochiensis i G. pallida su prisutne u Srbiji od 1999. god. odn. 2005. god. Ove nematode su sestrinske vrste i njihova morfološka identifikacija je složena zbog morfometrijskog preklapanja. Ciste sa lokaliteta Kladnica, Šanac, Gojna Gora i Milatovići su gajene na osetljivim sortama krompira i njihove morfološke razlike su analizirane. Da bi se izbegle nejasnoće u morfološkom određivanju vrsta, izabran je duplex PCR metod za brzu i preciznu specijsku identifikaciju. Celokupna procedura, od ekstrakcije DNK do njene vizualizacije, može biti urađena za jedan dan

Algorithm for Implementation of Wavelength Division Multiplexing in EPON

Today, implementation of wavelength division multiplexing in the Ethernet passive optical network (EPON) is considered as one of the most perspective solutions for the bottleneck problem in the access network. With the development of new applications and services, multimedia applications above all, quality of service (QoS) support becomes a major concern in WDM EPON, as it was the case in EPON. In this paper, WDM EPON architecture is presented along with a novel algorithm for wavelength and bandwidth allocation with full QoS support. Besides theoretical analysis, simulation results are presented and they confirm a good performance of presented solution