An ancient continuous human presence in the Balkans and the beginnings of human settlement in western Eurasia: A Lower Pleistocene example of the Lower Palaeolithic levels in Kozarnika cave (North-western Bulgaria)

2010 ◽  
Vol 223-224 ◽  
pp. 94-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Sirakov ◽  
J.-L. Guadelli ◽  
S. Ivanova ◽  
S. Sirakova ◽  
M. Boudadi-Maligne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Settlement ◽  
Human Presence ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Lower Pleistocene ◽  
Western Eurasia ◽  
North Western ◽  
Lower Palaeolithic

scholarly journals Dating of the Lower Pleistocene Vertebrate Site of Tsiotra Vryssi (Mygdonia Basin, Greece): Biochronology, Magnetostratigraphy, and Cosmogenic Radionuclides

Quaternary ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
George E. Konidaris ◽  
Dimitris S. Kostopoulos ◽  
Matteo Maron ◽  
Mirjam Schaller ◽  
Todd A. Ehlers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sedimentary Basin ◽  
Magnetic Polarity ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Southeastern Europe ◽  
Cosmogenic Radionuclides ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Lower Pleistocene ◽  
Faunal Succession ◽  
Western Eurasia ◽  
Age Constraints

Background and scope: The late Villafranchian large mammal age (~2.0–1.2 Ma) of the Early Pleistocene is a crucial interval of time for mammal/hominin migrations and faunal turnovers in western Eurasia. However, an accurate chronological framework for the Balkans and adjacent territories is still missing, preventing pan-European biogeographic correlations and schemes. In this article, we report the first detailed chronological scheme for the late Villafranchian of southeastern Europe through a comprehensive and multidisciplinary dating approach (biochronology, magnetostratigraphy, and cosmogenic radionuclides) of the recently discovered Lower Pleistocene vertebrate site Tsiotra Vryssi (TSR) in the Mygdonia Basin, Greece. Results: The minimum burial ages (1.88 ± 0.16 Ma, 2.10 ± 0.18 Ma, and 1.98 ± 0.18 Ma) provided by the method of cosmogenic radionuclides indicate that the normal magnetic polarity identified below the fossiliferous layer correlates to the Olduvai subchron (1.95–1.78 Ma; C2n). Therefore, an age younger than 1.78 Ma is indicated for the fossiliferous layer, which was deposited during reverse polarity chron C1r. These results are in agreement with the biochronological data, which further point to an upper age limit at ~1.5 Ma. Overall, an age between 1.78 and ~1.5 Ma (i.e., within the first part of the late Villafranchian) is proposed for the TSR fauna. Conclusions: Our results not only provide age constraints for the local mammal faunal succession, thus allowing for a better understanding of faunal changes within the same sedimentary basin, but also contribute to improving correlations on a broader scale, leading to more accurate biogeographic, palaeoecological, and taphonomic interpretations.

scholarly journals Historical picture of development of early iron age in the Serbian Danube basin

Balcanica ◽  
2004 ◽  
pp. 7-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikola Tasic
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
The Other ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Historical Survey ◽  
Danube Basin ◽  
Central European ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Pannonian Plain ◽  
The One ◽  
North Western

The paper offers a historical survey of the development of Early Iron Age cultures in Danubian Serbia, its characteristics, relations with contemporary cultures of the Pannonian Plain, the Balkans, Carpathian Romania (Transylvania) and the Romanian Banat. It describes the genesis of individual cultures, their styles, typological features and interrelationships. Danubian Serbia is seen as a contact zone reflecting influences of the Central European Urnenfelder culture on the one hand, and those of the Gornea-Kalakaca and the Bosut-Basarabi complex on the other. The latter?s penetration into the central Balkans south of the Sava and Danube rivers has been registered in the Morava valley, eastern Serbia north-western Bulgaria and as far south as northern Macedonia. The terminal Early Iron Age is marked by the occurrence of Scythian finds in the southern Banat, Backa or around the confluence of the Sava and the Danube (e.g. Ritopek), and by representative finds of the Srem group in Srem and around the confluence of the Tisa and Danube rivers. The powerful penetration of Celtic tribes from Central Europe into the southern Pannonian Plain marked the end of the Early Iron Age.

Geographic variability and taxonomy of the nose-horned viper, Vipera ammodytes (L. 1758), in the central and eastern parts of the Balkans: A multivariate study

2003 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georg Džukić ◽  
Ljiljana Tomović
Keyword(s):  
Multivariate Analyses ◽  
Morphological Differentiation ◽  
Balkan Peninsula ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Geographic Variability ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Multivariate Study ◽  
Yugoslav Republic ◽  
North Western ◽  
Vipera Ammodytes

AbstractA multivariate analyses of various morphological characters (morphometric, meristic and qualitative) of nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes) revealed a complex morphological differentiation of populations from the central and the eastern Balkan Peninsula. Analyses of quantitative data showed no clear morphological discrimination or well-defined taxonomical units. On the contrary, analyses of qualitative traits separated two discrete taxa in the analysed area. One, inhabiting the eastern and the southern part of the Balkans, includes samples from most parts of Bulgaria, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and south-eastern Serbia, whereas the other ranges from north-western Bulgaria through the main part of Serbia (except the south-east) to Montenegro.

scholarly journals Thracians - Illyrians - Celts. Cultural connections in the northern Balkans in the 4th-3rd centuries BC

Starinar ◽  
2017 ◽  
pp. 33-52
Author(s):  
Aurel Rustoiu
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Carpathian Basin ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Economic Relationships ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Cultural Connections ◽  
North Western ◽  
Cultural Interactions

The result of the colonisation of the eastern and southern part of the Carpathian Basin by Celtic communities was the appearance of some new communities characterised by the cultural amalgamation of the newcomers with the indigenous populations, which led to the construction of new collective identities. At the same time, the ?colonists? established different social, political or economic relationships with different indigenous populations from the Balkans. This article discusses the practices related to the cultural interactions between the aforementioned communities and the ways in which these connections can be identified through the analysis of material culture from the eastern and southern Carpathian Basin, and the northern and north-western Balkans.

Middle and Lower Pleistocene: the Homo radiation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco J. Ayala ◽  
Camilo J. Cela-Conde
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Characterization ◽  
Homo Erectus ◽  
Human Presence ◽  
Genus Homo ◽  
Lower Pleistocene ◽  
The Status

This chapter deals with the radiation of the genus Homo after its exit from Africa. It deals with population dispersals and the meaning of the taxon Homo erectus with respect to the African and Asian fossils. The morphological characterization of H. erectus is complemented with other sorts of evidence, such as fossil footprints. The comparison between the Asian and African specimens suggests the possible existence of the taxon Homo ergaster. The next issue is the colonization of Europe, with a distinction between “long chronology” and “short chronology,” according to a sporadic or permanent human presence. The hominins’ possible ways of entry in Europe are discussed, and the oldest exemplars, such as Homo antecessor, are described. Finally, the climatic (glaciations) and cultural alternatives are examined in order to determine the status of H. erectus considered as a whole.

scholarly journals The Early Neolithic pottery of Keçiçayiri and its place in the North-western Anatolian Neolithisation process

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 138-156
Author(s):  
Deniz Sari ◽  
Semsettin Akyol
Keyword(s):  
Near East ◽  
Western Anatolia ◽  
Mountainous Area ◽  
Cultural Groups ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
Trade Networks ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
The North ◽  
North Western

The region of Inner North-western Anatolia was a key node in the transmission of the Neolithic lifestyle from the Near East to Marmara, and from there to the Balkans and the rest of Europe. It formed the intersection between several important routes and trade networks, and the settlement of Keçiçayırı, the subject of this paper, had an essential role in the transfer of cultural elements during the Neolithic. The settlement is located on a natural communication route that connects the region of Emirdag-Bolvadin with Eskisehir across the mountainous area of Phrygia, between the distribution areas of the Hacılar and Fikirtepe cultural groups. Finds from the site include both Pre-Pottery Neolithic material and Early Neolithic ceramics, and it is therefore among the earliest permanent settlements of the Eskisehir region, and contains some of the earliest evidence for the Neolithisation process. In this paper, the pottery assemblage of the Early Neolithic settlement at Keçiçayırı is discussed, and its place in the spread of Neolithisation from the Near East to Northwestern Anatolia is evaluated when compared to other known sites.

scholarly journals Cartographic methods for solving historical and geographical problems (on the example of multiscale research of Europe, mediterranean and North-Western Black Sea regions)

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 266-281
Author(s):  
Andrey Herzen
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Black Sea ◽  
Cultural Analysis ◽  
Interdisciplinary Studies ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Multiscale Approach ◽  
Black Sea Region ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
North Western

Numerous and multidimensional problems of the modern world have a self-evident, but not always obvious, geographical conditionality and spatial reflection, which are the objects of interest of specialists. At the same time, the geographical approach to understanding the global problems of humanity and their multiscale nature is inseparable from the historical approach, and historic-geographical research is an integral factor in a comprehensive scientific search. This approach allows us to represent historic-geographical landscapes as integral natural and anthropogenic geosystems, to understand their structure and patterns of development. A comprehensive historic-geographical search integrates the knowledge gained in various scientific fields, and provides the basis for further geographical, historical, ethnographic, cultural and other scientific and practical research. Cartographic methods serve as the cornerstone of the historic-geographical approach, the application of which within the framework of complex research allows us to solve important scientific problems and find reliable answers to numerous questions that arise when systematizing knowledge about the natural and cultural heritage. Comprehensive studies based on this multiscale approach were carried out at the macro-regional level as part of a special geographical and cultural analysis of the Mediterranean-Black Sea region (high-precision mapping and generalization, determining the place of the Black Sea in the framework of the Great Mediterranean), toponymic surveys (transferred geographical names within Central, Eastern Europe and the Balkans), in the North-Western Black Sea region — at the meso- and micro-regional level — for the historic-geographical landscape of the Middle Dniester, characterized by weak urbanization processes, but extremely high concentration of monuments of natural and cultural heritage, the formation of which is due to both the border and the connecting role of the river (interdisciplinary studies of unique architectural monuments in Rashkov, Vad-Rashkov, Vasilkov, etc.), as well as for the urbanized central part of Moldavia (the reconstruction of the historic-geographical landscape of medieval Kishinev based on the use of a combination of traditional and innovative methods, which allowed to identify the location of medieval fortifications and their influence on the existing buildings).

scholarly journals Several Lower Palaeolithic Sites along the Rhine Rift Valley, Dated from 1.3 to 0.6 Million Years

Humanities ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lutz Fiedler ◽  
Christian Humburg ◽  
Horst Klingelhöfer ◽  
Sebastian Stoll ◽  
Manfred Stoll
Keyword(s):  
Rift Valley ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Early Appearance ◽  
Lower Pleistocene ◽  
Lithic Industry ◽  
Continental Part ◽  
Rhine Valley ◽  
Continuous Presence ◽  
Lower Palaeolithic

The important discoveries of Lower Palaeolithic artefacts in stratigraphical context within Lower and early Middle Pleistocene deposits in the western continental part of Europe along the rift systeme of the Rhine Valley are pointing at the possible continuous presence of hominins since the Lower Pleistocene. This paper reports on lithic industry from its early appearance at around 1.3 million years (Ma) at the site of Münster-Sarmsheim to the latest pre-Elsterian period at around 0.6 Ma at Mauer, Mosbach, and Miesenheim.

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