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 41,297 inhabitants, while the town has 22,881 inhabitants. It is situated ben ...

in central

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

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 recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

s of the

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

in Serbia besides the Gradac Cave near

Kragujevac Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the List of cities in Serbia, fourth largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Šumadija District. It is the historical centre of the geographical region of Šumadija in central Se ...

. Its discovery confirmed the assumed existence of the Paleolithic culture south of the

Sava The Sava, is a river in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. From its source in Slovenia it flows through Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally reac ...

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

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

Geography

Formation of the Risovača cave started during the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

. It 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 is a typically black-and-white banded variety of agate, a silicate mineral. The bands can also be monochromatic with alternating light and dark bands. ''Sardonyx'' is a variety with red to brown bands alternated with black or white bands. ...

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

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

, 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. By the 2020s, the cave and its surroundings became part of Aranđelovac's urban zone.

Exploration

Archaeological and speleological excavations started in 1953, headed by the archaeologist and young speleologist Radenko Lazarević (1924-2022).

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 preserve ...

s of 20 different

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s were discovered in the cave, that include cave hyena,

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

, fox,

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

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.'' They lived from the late Miocene epoch (from around 6.2 million years ago) into the Holocene until about 4,000 years ago, with mammoth species at various times inhabi ...

woolly rhinoceros The woolly rhinoceros (''Coelodonta antiquitatis'') is an extinct species of rhinoceros that inhabited northern Eurasia during the Pleistocene epoch. The woolly rhinoceros was a member of the Pleistocene megafauna. The woolly rhinoceros was larg ...

, cave lion,

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...

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 Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

badger Badgers are medium-sized short-legged omnivores in the superfamily Musteloidea. Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by their squat bodies and adaptions for fossorial activity rather than by the ...

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. * Spalacidae ...

beaver Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...

hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores and live Solitary animal, solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are precociality, able to fend for themselves ...

and

steppe bison The steppe bison (''Bison'' ''priscus'', also less commonly known as the steppe wisent and the primeval bison) is an extinct species of bison which lived from the Middle Pleistocene to the Holocene. During the Late Pleistocene, it was widely dist ...

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

flint tools Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistory, prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or Lithic reduction, knapped stone, ...

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

Neanderthal Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...

occupants during the end of the

Middle Paleolithic The Middle Paleolithic (or Middle Palaeolithic) is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle P ...

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 preserve ...

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 ( , ), corresponding partially with 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 throug ...

, 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 typically made from wood or plastic. An wiktionary:awl, awl is any kind of small pointed tool. Purpose A bradawl is used to make indentations ...

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 , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

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

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). 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 birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

s. The protected area covers the surrounding , and is inhabited by 180 species of plants, 200 species of insects, 20 species of mammals, with additional amphibians and reptiles.

Tourism

The cave was open for tourists in 1987. A sculptural complex, representing a Neanderthal family around the fireplace is exhibited in the cave. With 24,000 visitors in 2016 it was the third most visited cave in Serbia. By 2023 the number of visitors reached 40,000. Project for the Visitation Center in front of the cave entrance was finished in October 2023. There will be exhibited archaeological artefactss and over 6,000 animal remains from the last ice age.

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 Cave bear