The Influence of Heating Degree Days on Fuelwood Consumption in Households in Selected Countries of Central and Southeastern Europe

Serbia is one of the few European countries that does not keep official statistics and does not have data on heating degree days. A heating degree day (HDD) represents a measure to quantify the energy needs for heating a building. In order to create a database, six meteorological stations in Serbia had been selected, for which the heating degree days were calculated for every year in the period 2010-2018. The months with the highest values of heating degree days were also determined for each year of the analyzed period. In addition to the annual level, heating degree days in the heating seasons over the analyzed period were calculated for the six selected stations, as well as the length and the average air temperature of each heating season. In Serbia, heating season officially lasts from October 15 to April 15. To determine the influence of the calculated annual heating degree days on fuelwood consumption in households in Serbia, over the period 2010-2018, multiple econometric models were formulated. The influence of the annual values of heating degree days on fuelwood consumption for household space heating in Slovenia and Croatia was analyzed, as well. The analysis of energy consumption in the households of the selected countries showed that wood fuels are mostly used for heating, primarily fuelwood. This is the reason why this type of fuel was selected for the research.

TRANSITIONS OUT OF EMPIRE IN CENTRAL AND SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE. MATERIALS OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE. UNIVERSITY OF ZAGREB, SEPTEMBER 23-24, 2020

Recent studies of Habsburg Monarchy after 1917/1918, as a focus of attention, offer reinterpretations of both the transition out of empire and also of specific Habsburg legacies and practices that remained influential in the region long after 1918. In an attempt to shed more light on both of these aspects, an international conference in Zagreb was organised. The aim is to present papers on all aspects of the transition out of empire, on continuities and breaks among social elites, state institutions, administrative practices, legal codes, forms of citizenship, gender regimes, and welfare practices covering the period until the late 1930s.

The Nitrianska Blatnica II hoard: The hoard horizon of Lusatian culture in the Ha C1a period in Slovakia

This paper synthesises and analyses archaeological data on the Nitrianska Blatnica II hoard of metal artefacts (Ha C1a; 800–725 BC) from the hilltop settlement of Marhát. Currently, this is the largest metal deposit from the Final Bronze Age in Slovakia, providing a fundamental chronological synchronization of the Ha C1a sub-phase with Northern Italy and Central and Southeastern Europe. A spectral analysis of the serial circular jewellery shows a uniform origin from a unique metallurgical workshop and contributes to the scientific discussion with important data on economic operations in the Carpathian Basin. The closest analogies to the bronze vessels and gold cylindrical earrings come from the most important contemporary sites of the Hallstatt and Mezöcsát cultures and stimulate the notion of a large intercultural trade in prestigious goods and the practices of the aristocratic population of the Final Bronze Age in Central Europe.

Nomenclatural-taxonomic notes on the genus Ablepharus Fitzinger, 1824 (Squamata: Scincidae)

The two following notes concern two species of small skinks, genus Ablepharus: Lindberg’s Twin-striped Skink (Ablepharus lindbergi) and the Snake-eyed Skink (Ablepharus kitaibelii). Both species are small fossorial/semi-fossorial skinks with fused eyelids and a hidden lifestyle. A. kitaibelii is distributed disjunctly in several subspecies in Central and Southeastern Europe as well as in Western Turkey, A. lindbergi is distributed in Western Afghanistan (Uetz et al. 2020).

The Eocene flora of Tatabánya “marl-mine” (N Hungary)

The middle Eocene (Lutetian) fossil plant assemblage from Tatabánya (N Hungary) comprises plant remains preserved mostly as impressions. Remains of angiosperms are represented by Lauraceae (Laurophyllum div. sp., Daphnogene Unger), Rhamnaceae (Ziziphus Miller), Malvaceae s.l. (Byttneriopsis Z.Kvaček et Wilde), Leguminosae, and Palmae, and the occurrence of other families, i.e., Dioscoreaceae, Myrtaceae, Fagaceae, Anacardiaceae, Berberidaceae, Juglandaceae, and Theaceae, is uncertain. The scarcity of gymnosperms is a character similar to the coeval floras of Csordakút (N Hungary) and Girbou in Romania. The presence of Ziziphus ziziphoides (Unger) Weyland, high number of linear shaped leaves with entire margin and coriaceous texture (Lauraceae vel Fagaceae), and small-leaved Leguminosae suggests a “subhumid” character of the vegetation, which is recognisable also in early Palaeogene floras of eastern Central and Southeastern Europe, e.g., the Tard Clay floras in Hungary and floras of Serbia/Macedonia. In contrast, the Eocene floras from Central/Western Europe are indicative of a generally non-xerophytic character, e.g., Staré Sedlo in Bohemia, Messel, Geiseltal, and the Weisselster Basin floras in Germany. A frost-free climate with high mean annual temperatures similar to that estimated for coeval European floras may also be inferred for the Tatabánya flora.