Risovača Cave, ( sr-cyr, Пећина Рисовача, Pećina Risovača) is situated at the very entrance of the town of

Aranđelovac Aranđelovac ( sr-cyr, Аранђеловац, ) is a town and a municipality located in the Šumadija District of central Serbia. , the municipality has a population of 46,225 inhabitants, while the town has 24,797 inhabitants. It is situated be ...

in central

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

around above the Kubršnica river valley. It is one of the most important

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology a ...

s of the

Palaeolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος '' lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone to ...

in Serbia besides the Gradac Cave near Kragujevac. Its discovery confirmed the assumed existence of the Paleolithic culture south of the

Sava The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally t ...

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...

line and provided new information on the life of prehistoric humans in Europe.

Geography

The cave was created by the warm, mineral waters, which are abundant in the region surrounding Aranđelovac. The cave contains some natural rarities, like the marble

onyx Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The ...

, which deposited from the water on the floor of the cave. It also contains

aragonite Aragonite is a carbonate mineral, one of the three most common naturally occurring crystal forms of calcium carbonate, (the other forms being the minerals calcite and vaterite). It is formed by biological and physical processes, including pre ...

, which groups its crystals on the ceiling of the cave (branching stalactite forms called ''flos-ferri'' ("flowers of iron"), seemingly defying the gravity.

Discovery

The site has been discovered around 1938 when the quarry on the location became operational, but the size and importance were not recognized until 1950 when the old quarry was reopened. Unfortunately, at the same time the incorrigible damage was done to the site even before the scientific excavations began as the entry section of collapsed, destroying the richest cultural layer.

Exploration

Archaeological and speleological excavations started in 1953, headed by the archaeologist and speleologist Radenko Lazarević.

Fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s of 20 different mammals were discovered in the cave, that include cave hyena,

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

, fox,

wild horse The wild horse (''Equus ferus'') is a species of the genus ''Equus'', which includes as subspecies the modern domesticated horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') as well as the endangered Przewalski's horse (''Equus ferus przewalskii''). The Europea ...

cave bear The cave bear (''Ursus spelaeus'') is a prehistoric species of bear that lived in Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene and became extinct about 24,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum. Both the word "cave" and the scientific name ' ...

mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus'', one of the many genera that make up the order of trunked mammals called proboscideans. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks an ...

woolly rhinoceros The woolly rhinoceros (''Coelodonta antiquitatis'') is an extinct species of rhinoceros that was common throughout Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene epoch and survived until the end of the last glacial period. The woolly rhinoceros was a me ...

, cave lion, leopard,

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

badger Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by ...

mole rat Mole-rat or mole rat can refer to several groups of burrowing Old World rodents: * Bathyergidae, a family of about 20 hystricognath species in six genera from Africa also called blesmols. *'' Heterocephalus glaber'', the naked mole-rat. * Spalaci ...

, beaver, hare and steppe bison. The cave depth is approximately and its caverns, or "halls" are covered with minerals of various shapes and colors. Worked

flint tools A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric (particularly Stone Ag ...

and bone artifacts of prehistoric human origin were discovered in sediments in a depth of . These artifact assemblages are attributed to

Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. While the ...

occupants during the end of the Middle Paleolithic period.

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

remains have so far not been found during excavations because any layers that might have held remains were already destroyed and removed during earlier stone quarrying.

Risovača man

It is estimated that Neanderthals populated the cave in the period of 35,000 to 50,000 years and is one of, so far five caves in the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

, where the Neanderthals lived. Gavela immediately estimated, based on the remains of the material culture, that the inhabitants were contemporaneous with the Krapina man. The inhabitants were estimated to be of short but sturdy stature, hunched a bit and capable of making tools from stones and animal bones: daggers, stone

bradawl A bradawl is a woodworking hand tool with a blade similar to that of a straight screwdriver and a handle's made from wood or plastic. Purpose A bradawl is used to make indentations in wood or other materials in order to ease the insertion of a ...

s and stone-layered knife. Some of those tools, they used to fight with the animals which roamed the steppes around the cave in the finals stage of an ice age.

Protection

Risovača Cave has been declared a national archaeological site of great importance in 1983 and put under legal protection by the

Republic of Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

. The cave remains a refuge for several endangered and protected species of

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most ...

Tourism

The cave was open for tourists in 1987. A sculptural complex, representing a Neanderthal family around the fireplace was exhibited in the cave. With 24,000 visitors in 2016 it was the third most visited cave in Serbia.

References

External links

CAVE-DWELLING INVERTEBRATES IN SERBIA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Risovaca Cave Prehistoric sites in Serbia Archaeological Sites of Great Importance (Serbia) Caves of Serbia Neanderthal sites Paleontology in Serbia