THE VAMPIRLIJA HILL IN THE VILLAGE OF MIJAJLOVAC (TRSTENIK): A POSSIBLE LOCATION FOR THE BIRTHPLACE OF EUROPEAN ‘VAMPIROLOGY’

Vampires gained worldwide popularity due to the classic novel about the most famous one, Dracula, written by Bram Stoker in 1897. Bram Stoker’s Dracula has very little in common with his inspiration, the fifteenth-century Wallachian ruler Vlad III (1431‒1476), who was a real historical figure. However, some strange events involving the dead seem to have occurred in Southwest of Transylvania a few centuries after the Wallachian prince’s death. In some parts of the Habsburg Kingdom of Serbia (1718‒1739), the local Austrian authorities recorded some cases of ‘vampirism’, which Europe would be introduced to shortly afterward, along with this newly accepted word. This paper will present historical facts about one particular case recorded at the southernmost border of the Habsburg Empire, which at the time was the West Morava River. It was the case of a ‘vampire’ named Arnold Paole, who died in 1726/7 in the border village of Medveđa and whose case ‘infected’ the whole Europe with the ‘virus’ of ‘vampiromania’. The main goal of the paper is to locate the spot where one of the first ‘vampire slayings’ ever recorded could have taken place, and to direct further investigations within early modern age archaeology.

Central Sites and the Development of Rural Settlements from the Middle to Late La Tène Period in Central Moravia

At a certain point in time, there were two central places in central Moravia: an older unfortified central agglomeration near the present-day village of Němčice nad Hanou and a younger oppidum at Staré Hradisko. Each of this centres had its own approach to raw materials, orientation of the socio-economic contacts, and possibly political focus as well. Němčice, being located at one of the main branches of the Amber Road, connected the Middle Danube area from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic; Staré Hradisko eventually expanded these contacts into a systematic trade network, being under the strong influence of the Bohemian region with links to Bavaria. During the LT C2, in addition to the location of the central place, changes took place in terms of material culture and settlement strategies in the region. This was further accentuated in LT D1 by the shift of settlements towards the west, to the vicinity of the oppidum and, at the same time, vacation of the corridor around the Morava River. In an attempt to chronologically assess the settlement pattern, it became evident how important it is to define, as precisely as possible, the dating of individual sites. This was only possible thanks to the detailed and extensive study of the material available (Čižmář 2018). Thanks to precise dating of settlements and classification based on the new chronology, the seemingly illogical group of settlements in central Moravia revealed a distinct settlement network which, in particular during the period contemporary with the oppidum, allows us to see the significant changes in the number of sites and in the orientation of long-distance contacts that were possibly associated with historical events.

Potentially Toxic Elements in Invasive Fish Species Prussian Carp (Carassius Gibelio) from Different Freshwater Ecosystems and Human Exposure Assessment

Concentrations of Al, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, Sn, and Zn were detected in the muscle and gills of Prussian carp from three different freshwater ecosystems: isolated ponds and the South Morava River in Serbia, and Kopačko Lake in complex wetland ecosystem of the Kopački Rit Nature Reserve in Croatia. The main goals of the paper were to assess the concentrations of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in the muscle and gills of Prussian carp (Carassius gibelio), to examine whether abiotic factors from three different freshwater ecosystems affect the accumulation of PTEs in fish tissues and to estimate the human health risk resulting from fish consumption. There were only six concentrations of PTEs in the gill tissue (Cr, Hg, Mn, Pb, Sn, and Zn) that were not significantly different among the different freshwater ecosystems. In the muscles, the differences were much less visible. Kopačko Lake distinguished with the highest values of metal pollution index (MPI) for muscles (0.24) and isolated ponds with the highest values of MPI for gills (0.8). The redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that concentrations of Al, Mn, Zn, Cu, and Fe in the gill tissue were significantly correlated with the environmental variables. In contrast, the RDA based on element concentrations in the fish muscles indicated no significant relationship with the environment. Isolated ponds, with no inflow of freshwater, stand out as the most polluted, followed by Kopačko Lake with occasional floods. Flowing freshwater ecosystem South Morava River can be single out as at least polluted with PTEs. The target hazard quotients (THQ) and hazard index (HI) suggested there were no significant noncarcinogenic health risks. The target carcinogenic risk factor (TR) for As and Pb confirmed there were no cancer risks related to human fish consumption. Since the elevated concentrations of toxic Cd and As in Prussian carp were estimated, an early warning should be assumed, especially for fishing activities in these areas.

Distribution of Heavy Metals (Cd, Cu, Co, Cr, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn, and As) in Overbank Sediments of Ibar Tributaries (in Serbia)

The Ibar River is an international river whose watercourse passes next to numerous technogenic landfills and chemical-industrial complexes. They can affect the quality of water in the river, as well as the quality of overbank sediments. The river flows into the West Morava River near Kraljevo and it represents its largest tributary. The analysis of the overbank sediments of Ibar tributaries showed high concentration of heavy metals at some points. The statistical analysis of the content determined the existence of two synthetic factors around which heavy metals were concentrated. The comparison of the chemical composition of overbank sediment with the composition of geological and pedological substratum on which they were developed showed that the increased concentrations of heavy metals were mostly a product of geological and pedological composition of the river’s substratum and basin, and had no connection with (possible) anthropogenic factors. However, due to the sensitivity and proximity of potential pollutants, the necessity to constantly monitor chemical composition of overbank sediments in the river basin was determined.

Agriculture Land Use Change and Demographic Change in Response to Decline Suspended Sediment in Južna Morava River Basin (Serbia)

This study expounds the dynamic relationships among agricultural land-use change, rural population migration, and sediment transport. The variability of suspended sediment load was detected by Mann–Kendall and Pettitt tests. From 1961 to 2007, the annual trend in suspended sediment concentration and sediment load demonstrated significant reduction (α = 0.001), with decreasing rates of 0.0144 g/L/y and 84.7 t/y, respectively. An abrupt change-point was detected in 1984 for the sediment load (p = 0.0001). The double-mass curve method and regression analysis of sediment load versus precipitation were used to quantify the effects of climate change and human activities on sediment load variations. The changes in sediment load were predominantly impacted by human activities (89%), while precipitation explained 11% of the reduction in suspended sediment. An important land-use change recorded in the Južna Morava river basin comprised the abandonment of agricultural lands due to depopulation processes, as well as economic and social changes, which was followed by significant impacts on soil erosion and sediment transport. Land abandonment was most pronounced in marginal mountain or semi-mountainous areas, where agriculture was until recent decades traditional or semi-traditional. The results of the correlation matrix were significant at the p < 0.05 level, demonstrating that the decrease of rural population, agricultural land, and arable land were directly related to the decline of suspended sediment. High correlation coefficients were found between anthropogenic indicators and sediment parameters, ranging from 0.94 to 0.97.

Comparison of the Uzboi Vallis and Nirgal Vallis (Mars) using swath analysis

&lt;p&gt;The presumably fluvially affected surfaces of Mars provide evidence of the variety of surface processes of the past of the planet. Throughout its history, the climate has enabled the presence of liquid water several times (perhaps periodically). Watercourses and mega-river systems have ruled the surface; their tracks are still recognizable in many places. The Argyre Crater might have served as the source of such a huge river system: the Uzboi&amp;#8211;Ladon&amp;#8211;Morava River System (ULM), during the Late Noachian. (Dohm et al 2015) ULM is therefore fundamentally different from most of the valleys and channels of Mars as it is not an amphitheatre-headed valley, it is composed of various types of sections, and its source is connected to a large crater. In this study Uzboi Vallis, a section of ULM was studied using data from the Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) data. A comparison is presented of Uzboi Vallis and its tributary, Nirgal Vallis. In addition to creating the stream orders of the valleys and traditional elevation profiles, we used the swath profile analysis method. The swath analysis is fundamentally different from elevation profiles that enhance the specific Martian conditions (impact cratering, the complete absence of the biosphere, less gravity). In addition to the swath analysis completely covering the two studied areas, several regions of the catchment were specifically analyzed. According to the results obtained, the Uzboi Vallis is at least partly tectonically modified. Based on these observations, in the northeastern part, half-graben structures are hypothesized. The method of swath profile analysis, previously not applied to Martian data, proved to be useful and provided interpretable data for the surface of a planet other than Earth.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Geomorphometric studies on terrain models are found to provide interesting information paving the way towards an in-depth understanding of this mega river system. Further analysis of the ULM is planned in the near future.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dohm, J.M., Hare, T.M., Robbins, S.J., Williams, J.-P., Soare, R.J., El-Maarry, M.R., Conway, S.J., Buczkowski, D.L., Kargel, J.S., Banks, M.E., Fair&amp;#233;n, A.G., Schulze-Makuch, D., Komatsu, G., Miyamoto, H., Anderson, R.C., Davila, A.F., Mahaney, W.C., Fink, W., Cleaves, H.J., Yan, J., Hynek, B., Maruyama, S. (2015): Geological and hydrological histories of the Argyre province, Mars. Icarus 253:66&amp;#8211;98.&lt;/p&gt;

SEASONAL VARIATIONS OF THE ZAPADNA MORAVA RIVER WATER QUALITY

The water samples collected from four localities of the middle course of the Zapadna Morava River during 2020 were analyzed via the selected physico-chemical parameters with the aim to estimate the quality of surface water. According to the results of selected physico-chemical parameters (pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand), analyzed surface water show a good chemical status, while the values of nutrient content (nitrate, nitrite, ammonium ion, total phosphorus) indicated the poor chemical status especially at the locality 4 probably due to the outflow of wastewater from the city of Čačak as well as from the influence of the polluted water of the Čemernica River.

The hydrological and environmental aspect of low flow assessment in ungauged basins - a case study in the Juzna Morava river basin

Eighteen low flow indicators are considered in the research of sixteen hydrological stations in the Juzna Morava river basin. The indicators are estimated by statistical analysis and grouped as hydrological and environmental indicators. A crosscorrelation between all indicators is assessed. Environmental flows at hydrologic stations are obtained by the GEP method. The environmental low flow indicators are transferred to two small ungauged basins by regression with physiographic characteristics. The adjustment of environmental flows at ungauged basins is performed according to locations of the donor stations in the hydrogeological regions of the studied area.