Northeast Serbia Research Articles

Disentangling the taxonomic structure of the Allium paniculatum species complex in central and eastern Europe using molecular, cytogenetic and morphological tools

Allium section Codonoprasum includes a group of evolutionarily young taxa with unclear taxonomic boundaries, evolutionary relationships and complex synonymy. The most complicated taxon in this section is A. paniculatum, which until recently was considered to be the most widespread and morphologically most variable species, with a distribution extending from the Mediterranean area to central Europe and the Pontic region. A recent taxonomic study has shown that true A. paniculatum is a morphologically and genetically distinct species occurring in southern Ukraine and southern Russia. The clarification of its taxonomic identity questioned the taxonomic identity of populations referred to as A. paniculatum in other parts of Europe, including populations in central (Slovakia, Hungary, northeast Serbia) and the western part of eastern Europe (Romania, Ukraine), from where four other species of this complex (i.e. A. fuscum, A. fussii, A. marginatum and A. podolicum) were described and later frequently merged as synonyms with A. paniculatum. Here, the diversification within this complex in the abovementioned region is explored, using various biosystematic methods (morphometry, leaf anatomy and epidermal micromorphometry, karyology, estimation of genome size and GC content using flow cytometry, and molecular fingerprinting using Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms). By this means the existence of three well-separated population groups were revealed in the material studied, taxonomically corresponding to A. fuscum, A. marginatum and the group A. paniculatum + A. podolicum. The genetic patterns indicate that populations of at least some of these taxa might have survived in their current ranges or in neighbouring areas during the last glacial and the early Holocene. Allium fuscum is a species that inhabits shaded rocky outcrops in the wide neighbourhood of the Iron Gate area (south-western Romania, north-western Bulgaria and northeast Serbia). Allium marginatum is a species closely related to A. fuscum, inhabiting dry grasslands and dry oak forests in the Pannonian and Transylvanian Basins. Two eastern-European taxa, A. podolicum and A. paniculatum,which are very similar inmorphology, genome size and genetic markers, are considered to be conspecific and named A. paniculatum. This species inhabits zonal steppe and forest steppe regions in eastern Europe from western Ukraine to southern Russia. In addition, a taxonomic and nomenclatural treatment, as well as a key for identifying the recognized species of the A. paniculatum complex in the region studied, are presented.

New finds of copper metallurgy during the bronze age in the Timok region (north-east Serbia)

Over the last 7 years a series of discoveries were made at Banjsko Polje near the city of Bor, the largest copper exploitation center in south-eastern Serbia, which prove that in the Bronze Age copper metallurgy intensified on this territory. Besides the remains of two metallurgical kilns, a large quantity of ceramics and slag was discovered from the same context. The types of slag indicate a complex process of extracting copper from sulfide ore of the Timok eruptive basin, where the first absolute date established for the Bronze Age on this territory contributed to a change in the archeological framework and genesis of prehistoric culture in the Timok Region.

Structural and geochronological constraints on the magmatic and tectonic events in the pre-Alpine basement of the central parts of the Balkan fold–thrust belt (Central Stara Planina Mountains, Bulgaria)

The north-vergent Balkan fold–thrust belt of the Balkanide orogen, extending from northeast Serbia to the Black Sea region, was formed during at least two Alpine compressional events. However, remnants of the Variscan orogen are still preserved in its western and central parts. In the central part (Central Stara Planina Mountains), two pre-Permian metamorphic complexes of contrasting metamorphic degrees, the low-grade Stara Planina and high-grade Sredna Gora complexes, are juxtaposed along a major Variscan tectonic zone and intruded by voluminous granitoids of previously unknown age. Here, we present an extensive structural and U–Pb (TIMS and LA-ICP-MS) geochronological analysis, constraining several magmatic and tectonic events in the pre-Alpine evolution of the area. For the first time, early Cambrian magmatism (531.7 ± 1.5 Ma/519.4 ± 2 Ma) is reported from a granite intruding the low-grade Stara Planina complex. The juxtaposition of the metamorphic complexes before 314 Ma was followed by a transpressional stage between 313 and 306 Ma. The last Variscan penetrative ductile deformation was associated with the final emplacement stages of the Ambaritsa sheet-like pluton at about 306 Ma under still ongoing compression. In addition, at least two post-Variscan magmatic pulses of granitoid magmatism (at ca. 306–304 Ma and 250 Ma) have been distinguished in the studied area. Later, Alpine ductile to brittle deformational events led to an additional reworking of the Variscan edifice.

First thermochronological constraints on the Cenozoic extension along the Balkan fold-thrust belt (Central Stara Planina Mountains, Bulgaria)

The Balkan fold-thrust belt, exposed in Bulgaria and north-east Serbia, is part of the north-east vergent segment of the bi-vergent Eastern Mediterranean Alpine orogen. It was formed during two distinct compressional stages; the first one lasted from the Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous and the second from Late Cretaceous to the Paleogene. Although the compressional tectonic evolution of the Balkan fold-thrust belt since the Middle Jurassic and during most of the Mesozoic is relatively well studied, the final exhumation of the rocks of the belt during the Cenozoic has remained poorly understood. Here, we present the first thermochronological constraints, based on fission-track and [U-Th-(Sm)]/He analysis, showing that along the central part of the belt syn- to post-orogenic extension could have started as early as the middle Eocene. Low-temperature thermochronological analysis of samples collected from three areas reveals at least two phases of increased cooling and exhumation during the Cenozoic. The first exhumation phase took place between ~ 44 and 30 Ma and appears to be related to the syn- to post-orogenic collapse coeval with the earliest Cenozoic extensional stage observed across the southern Balkan Peninsula. A period of relative quiescence (between ~ 30 and ~ 25 Ma) is followed by the next cooling stage, between 25 and 20 Ma, which appears to be related to late Oligocene to early Miocene crustal extension across the Balkan Peninsula. Extension accommodated by the late Miocene to Recent age Sub-Balkan Graben System does not appear to have produced exhumation of rocks from beneath 2–4 km depth, as it was not detected by the low-temperature thermochronological methods applied in this study.

Palaeoenvironment and geoconservation of mammoths from the Nosak loess–palaeosol sequence (Drmno, northeastern Serbia): Initial results and perspectives

A Quaternary site at Drmno (comprising of Middle and Late Pleistocene loess–palaeosol sequences) near Kostolac, northeast Serbia, attracted attention from the general public and scientists, when several steppe mammoth and other mammal skeletons from Middle Pleistocene fluvial deposits were discovered in 2009 and 2012. This paper presents the combination of malacological and enviromagnetic analyses, preliminary luminescence dating, litho-pedostratigraphic and palaeo-relief investigations that were applied to the Nosak loess–palaeosol sequence for the 2012 findings. The results confirm and emphasize the antiquity of the sediments preserved in the Nosak section and demonstrate the significance of the detailed and relatively complete palaeoenvironmental record they contain. These discoveries can significantly contribute to setting the background towards an improved understanding of the evolution of mammoths on the European continent.

Quackery in the Treatment of Syphilis in Serbia / Nadrilekari u lečenju sifilisa u srbiji

Abstract During the multi-century Ottoman rule, there were no educated physicians in Serbia, and “folk healers” used to treat the sick. Just after the 3rd decade of the 19th century, when the first educated physicians came to Serbia, we can also speak about quackery. At that time, syphilis started spreading and some quacks became “specialists for syphilis”. They were most numerous in the North-East Serbia in the 4th and 5th decades of the 19th century. They represented a major problem, because people believed them more than they believed physicians, while the state authorities of just liberated country, tolerated them. The quacks were not familiar with the clinical features of syphilis, and mostly used mercury to treat it by fumigation and inhalation, rubbing it into the skin, proscribing mercury pills, while symptoms of severe, sometimes lethal intoxication were signs of successful treatment. They also used sarsaparilla. Authorities of the new Government often issued them permission to work, whereas professional control and prohibition of such treatment began in 1839, when the Health Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was established. The most famous quack, “specialist for syphilis”, was Gojko Marković, who was also a “physician” and the first director of the Hospital for the treatment of syphilis in Serbia during a certain period. A married couple, Gaja and Kita Savković, were also well known, as well as Stojan Milenković, a young man in the service of Prince Miloš. There were, of course, many adventurers, imposters, travelling Turkish and Greek physicians, Gipsies, fortune-tellers, old women, and ignorant people of various professions. Their work was banned by the Government.

Arthrospira fusiformis (Voronichin) Komarek et Lund (Cyanoprokaryota) A new species for Europe

The first algological research on salty puddles in two localities, Slatina and Pecena Slatina near the river Tamis, north-east Serbia, was carried out in 2003 and contin- ued in 2006. These habitats are distinguished by a great amount of salt and increased pH value of water. The cyanobacterial species Arthrospira fusiformis (Cyanoprokaryota, Oscillatoriales), up to now mainly known from tropical regions in Africa and Asia, was found in the phytoplankton of both mentioned localities. The first occurrence of this par- ticular species, which is typical of salty alkaline lakes in Africa, is remarkable in Serbia and is described.

The neolithic settlements in the Timok region and Djerdap gorge hinterland

For many years, the territory along the course of the Crni Timok river in northeast Serbia was not presented as an interesting area for early Neolithic excavation. However, recent inspection of older unpublished data, with newer reconnaissance, has shed new light on this period of prehistory. A larger number of sites have been discovered with similar topographical positions on the edges/rims of large areas or on ridges above river courses. Thanks to cooperation between the geographical project TOPOI from Berlin and the Archaeological Institute in Belgrade, work has begun on the production of a digital ?archaeological model of probability? (ARM), which will improve reconnaissance of this region. Alongside the only systematic excavation/investigation of settlements in Kucajna, 16 more localities have been confirmed, situated in the area between the Roman imperial palace of Felix Romuiana in the south and Bor in the north. They are located at the following sites: Cerova Faca and Dubrava in Brestovac; Kot 1 and 2, Pundjilov potok (Pundjil?s stream) in Metovnica; La Bunar in Sarbanovac; Smolnica, Abri above Lazareve pecine (Lazarus? cave), Donja Stopanja (Lower Stopanja) Kobila in Zlot. In the area around Felix Romuliana several settlements have been discovered: in sectors Intra and Extra muros, Kravarnik, Varzari, Petronj 2, sites between Magura and Rimski majdan (Roman mine) and Visicina Basta. From the examination of finds discovered at these sites it can be concluded that on the territory along the course of the River Timok the population of the Starcevo-Keres-Kris cultural complex was relatively well established during the early Neolithic period. The Neolithic occupation of the region had proceeded from the Djerdap gorge in the north and Sicevacka, Svrljiska and Trgoviska gorges in the south, towards the course of the River Timok i.e. the central part of north-east Serbia. The Mesolithic populations had gradually accepted the production of food. Utilizing the optimal climate and fertile soil, they improved their husbandry through new agricultural methods and the better domestication of animals. This experimental process demanded successive migrations, which impoverished the quality of soil and the seasonal movements of animals that needed to be tamed. By analysis of the topographical and geomorphologic character of this terrain, early Neolithic settlements can be described as being agricultural-livestock husbandry and livestock husbandry-hunting based. The first settlements were located on gently inclined terrains relatively close to water sources, at altitudes of 180 to 300 m. The second category of settlements were formed on uplands, offering a better view of the terrain, 230 to over 450 metres above sea level. These were probably short-term or seasonal settlements since such territories were usually unsuitable for habitation during the winter months. The poor geomorphology of the land, the magma-rock substratum and ill-drained soil, in combination with primitive agriculture, guaranteed greater soil erosion, which would destroy the economic worth of the soil. With the disappearance of the early- Neolithic population from this region, human habitation did not reoccur until several millennia later, during the middle Bronze age.

Production potential of the soil in sessile oak coppice forests

The soils in sessile oak forests were studied at three localities in the region of Northeast Serbia. Brownised dystrict humus-siliceous soil was studied on gneiss in M.U. "Zlatica" - N.P. "Djerdap", in the forest of sessile oak with fescue grass (Quercetum montanum subass. festucetosum heterophyllae). Dystric acid brown soil on gneiss was studied in the region of F.E. "Severni Kucaj", M.U. "Ravna Reka", in the community of sessile oak and hornbeam (Querco-Carpinetum moesiacum), and in the region of the Teaching Base "Majdanpecka Domena" in M.U. "Crna Reka - Pek", in the forest of sessile oak with hairy sedge (Quercetum montanum subass. caricetosum pilosae) on schist's. Eutric brown soil was studied on amphibolite schist and on basic and neutral eruptive rocks in the region of N.P. "Djerdap", in M.U. "Zlatica", in the typical sessile oak forest (Quercetum montanum subass. tipicum).

A contribution to the study of the association quercetum montanum Cer. et Jov. 1953. in north-east Serbia

The association Quercetum montanum Cer. et Jov. 1953 in north-east Serbia is researched. Its site conditions, structure and floristic composition are defined and four sub associations are designated based on the differences in soils and differential species: ornetosum, pauperum, typicum and tilietosum.

Evaluations of the domestication process in Serbia: Plezoological remnants at neolithic settlement of Blovode

During research on neolithic cultural sites in North-eastern Serbia fragmented bones were revealed. Archaeological studies were initiated in order to broaden the data concerning the long, historical tradition of animal breeding, especially those concerning the phenotype and genotype of prehistoric ancestors of domestic animals in the centre of Northeast Serbia. Four phases of neolithic culture were distinguished in the settlement of Belovode according to the stratigraphy, stylistic and typological character. They were chronologically defined to belong to the period of about 5 500-4 800 years B.C. The study of the osseological material, excavated on the site, gave rise to multidisciplinary research concerning the type of animals undergoing the process of domestication. Bovine bone fragments dominated. The position, age and state of the fragments indicated Belovode as a possible centre of ruminant domestication in this region.

Pre-marital relations: Entering adulthood

Investigation was carried out in north-east Serbia, in the region which is known for more freedom in male, female relations and marriages between minors. To prepare children for early marriage, the community takes care to introduce them to the world of adulthood through customs and to speed up their sexual maturity. Thus, on certain holidays, freedom in the behaviour of the young and the possibility of their getting to know each other more intimately was the accepted and publicly approved custom, although at the same time the strict rules of patriarchal morals, which prescribed the submissiveness in the behaviour of youth in daily life, were valid.

State and silvicultural problems of beech forests in Northeast Serbia

The state and silvicultural demands in beech forests of northeast Serbia were studied in the economic regions of Severni Kucaj, Timok and Juzni Kucaj, and in the region of the National Park Djerdap. The detailed analysis of state forests was performed: representation of beech forests according to silvicultural form, origin, age structure, stand state and productivity Average volume in high beech forests of 218 m3 x ha?1 is for about 5% lower than the average in Serbia (207.2 m3 x ha?1), and it amounts to 87% of the optimal volume of beech forests in Serbia. Volume increment of 4.5 m3?ha?1 is approximate to the average increment of high beech forests in Serbia, and it amounts to 75% of the optimal value. The average volume of coppice beech forests of 150 m3?ha?1 is 60% of the optimal volume of beech forests in Serbia The age structure is unfavourable, because the percentage of well conserved mature stands is only about 8%. Unplanned regeneration has started on about 15% of the area. Middle-aged and maturing stands account for more than 3/4 of the total area (80%). Stand state of beech forests in this region can be assessed as close to unsatisfactory, if the criteria are conservation, origin, vitality, and also the health state Based on the above state, the concrete silvicultural demands for each silvicultural situation were determined and the silvicultural measures were proposed aiming at their rational utilisation and improvement of forest state: measures aiming at the establishment of new, quality stands and measures aiming at the improvement of the state of existing forests.

Excavations at Kraku'lu Yordan, Northeast Serbia: Preliminary Report, 1973–76 Seasons

AbstractStarting in 1973, excavation was conducted at the Kraku'lu Yordan site, a metallurgical complex in NE Serbia, Yugoslavia. Artifactual data indicate the site was in use primarily during the 4th century A.C., a period of Roman imperialism and colonialism within this province of Upper Moesia. This report describes three Yugoslav trial excavation seasons of 1973–75 and the beginning of joint Yugoslav-United States research in 1976. Architectural data and material culture indicate a surprisingly low degree of indigenous acculturation to Roman culture.

Excavations at Kraku'lu Yordan, Northeast Serbia: Preliminary Report, 1973-76 Seasons

Excavations at Kraku'lu Yordan, Northeast Serbia: Preliminary Report, 1973-76 Seasons