Neanderthals in Serbia

The Mala and Velika Balanica, Pešturina and Kozja caves make up Serbia one of the key areas for study evolution and migration of Neanderthals in Southeast Europe. The findings show that Neanderthals lived here in different time periods - from 300.000 years ago, until about 40.000 years ago when they disappeared from the European continent.

The oldest evidence of the presence of Homo ancestors in our region was recorded in 2006 during archaeological research in the Mala Balanica cave in the Sićevačka gorge. Then a fragment of the lower jaw with three preserved molars was discovered. The fossil jaw is attributed to an extinct human species that inhabited these areas about half a million years ago. It belonged to a young adult whose gender could not be determined. Only recently, and on the basis of numerous other paleoanthropological evidence, the fossil jaw was attributed to a new human species - Homo bodoensis. The fossil discovered in the cave dates back to 391–525.000 years ago. Significantly, this hominin walked upright. Its remains are the earliest found evidence of the presence of extinct human species in Serbia. Also, this human species is considered a possible ancestor of anatomically modern humans.

Hundreds of thousands of years later, a much more advanced human species - the Neanderthals - entered the prehistoric scene. More fossil remains of these long-extinct human relatives were discovered in the caves of Pešturina and Velika Balanica (right next to Mala), which shed light on the important role of this area in the prehistoric migrations of Europe. Excavations are carried out by experts with prof. headed by Dušan Mihailović, from the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade, in cooperation with the University of Winnipeg.

In 2015, the first reliably identified fossil of a Neanderthal from the territory of Serbia was identified in the Pešturina cave in the Jelašnicka Gorge near Niš. A 111.000-year-old upper molar was discovered. By analyzing the three-dimensional model, it was determined that the tooth belonged to a child in the late stage of childhood. Stone artifacts and remains of Pleistocene fauna (horse, bison, mammoth, rhinoceros) were also found in the same layer. A bone with incised parallel lines was also observed, which may represent a trace of symbolic behavior. A few years later, a fragment of the radius (palatal bone) of a juvenile person, which could belong to a Neanderthal, was also discovered in Pešturina. Although it is difficult to reliably determine the species due to its fragmentary nature, the morphology of the bone resembles typical Neanderthal features and was found in association with Middle Paleolithic tools. The age of this bone is estimated to range widely from 38.000 to 92.000 years. A vertebra belonging to an anatomically modern man from around 30.000 years ago was also found in the younger layer.

Based on dental calculus deposits of Neanderthals from Pešturina, scientists were able to successfully reconstruct the oral microbiome, which provides insight into their diet and other aspects of life. In this way, they determined the presence of a subgroup of bacteria Streptococcus which is found in both anatomically modern humans and Neanderthals. These bacteria have an important role in the processing of starch that contributed to the development of the brain. Previous studies have argued that the switch to a diet of starchy foods may have helped our ancestors develop the large brains that characterize our species. Pešturina is the only site in the central Balkans where the levels of Neanderthal (Middle Paleolithic) and modern humans (Upper Paleolithic) settlements have been observed, with associated fossils.

In 2017, fossil remains of the oldest Neanderthals in Eastern Europe, four Neanderthal teeth that are 300.000 years old, were found in the Velika Balanica cave in Sićevačka Klisura. These teeth belong to at least two individuals: one child and one adult Neanderthal. Next to the teeth, traces of a hearth and stone tools for processing leather, known as Quina type tools, were discovered. Recently, four new teeth of the same age were discovered, which confirms that early Neanderthals inhabited the Balkans much earlier than previously thought. The research was published in the American Journal of Biological Anthropology. Analyzes were carried out on these teeth using microcomputer tomography, which enabled a detailed study of the morphology of the teeth, their internal structure and roots. The analyzed fossil teeth show a number of features characteristic of Neanderthals, such as a robust crown, long roots, as well as pronounced labial convexity (curvature of the front surface of the tooth). In two specimens, traces of linear enamel hypoplasia were observed - horizontal lines that indicate periods of physiological stress during childhood. On one molar, a morphological feature was discovered that is considered diagnostic for the Neanderthal lineage, as well as an enlarged root cavity, and based on it, interesting traces of everyday life were also discovered - it is a lifelong fracture of the crown that occurred during life, probably due to chewing hard objects or using the teeth for special purposes such as processing materials.

In 2020, a fragment of the lower human jaw was discovered in the Goat Cave near Majdanpek. Morphologically, it has certain characteristics of modern humans, but also those that point to Neanderthals, representing an adult robust individual. Radiocarbon dating showed an age of about 32.000 years, indicating that it was an anatomically modern human, not a Neanderthal. Analysis of ancient DNA showed that it was a man. These research results have not yet been published, but were publicly presented at the 15th annual meeting of the European Society for the Study of Human Evolution in Paris. The presence of anatomically modern man in this period coincides with the time of the spread of Homo sapiens throughout Europe, when the Neanderthals had already disappeared. It is interesting that several thousand years later these same caves were used by anatomically modern people.

All the mentioned findings prove that the area of ​​today's Serbia is important for understanding evolution and that it was a long-term and important corridor for the movement of different human species.

Real journalism costs money, and we will not be bought by tycoons and corporations. Support us with a one-time or monthly donation. The time for it is now!