The Janda cavity at Fruska Gora, the first cave assemblage from the southeast Pannonian lowland (Vojvodina, Serbia)
Abstract
The recently discovered Janda cavity yielded the first large mammal fossil assemblage of the Late Pleistocene age in the southeast Pannonian lowland (Vojvodina), outside the karst region of Serbia. The cavity is formed in the Badenian reef limestone on the northern hillside of the Fruska Gora mountain. The paper provides a paleontological description and taphonomic data on mammal remains collected from the loose sediments or scree. Herbivores are represented by Bison priscus (Bojanus, 1827), which is the most abundant species, followed by Megaloceros giganteus (Blumenbach, 1803) and Equus germanicus Nehring, 1884, with several remains of Mammuthus sp. and Coelodonta antiquitatis (Blumenbach, 1799). Carnivores are represented by Ursus spelaeus ingressus (Rabeder et al., 2004), Crocuta crocuta spelaea (Goldfuss, 1823), Panthera leo spelaea (Goldfuss, 1810), as well as Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758. Wolf remains are characterized by their large size, almost reaching the size of hyenas, which... is in contrast with the finds of rather small Pleistocene wolves from the caves in the mountainous part of Serbia. The faunal composition and the presence of mostly grazing forms among the herbivores indicate glacial conditions and an open landscape in the surroundings of the site during the formation of the Janda cavity infill. Taphonomic observations indicate the cave hyena as a dominant bone accumulating agent. In contrast to other cave hyena sites in Serbia, where mostly small and medium sized prey remains were accumulated, prey preference for large and extra large mammals is noted. It is supposed that this is the consequence of the differences between mountainous and lowland landscapes and environments, climatic conditions, different composition of animal and plant associations, and also in different modes of competitions between predators.
Source:
Quaternary International, 2014, 339, 97-111Publisher:
- Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd, Oxford
Funding / projects:
- Bioarchaeology of Ancient Europe: People, Animals and Plants in the Prehistory of Serbia (RS-47001)
- Laboratory for Bioarchaeology, Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Philosophy University of Belgrade
DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2013.06.005
ISSN: 1040-6182
WoS: 000340328200009
Scopus: 2-s2.0-84904632527
Institution/Community
Arheologija / ArchaeologyTY - JOUR AU - Dimitrijević, Vesna AU - Dulić, Ivan A. AU - Cvetković, Nevena J. PY - 2014 UR - http://reff.f.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/1831 AB - The recently discovered Janda cavity yielded the first large mammal fossil assemblage of the Late Pleistocene age in the southeast Pannonian lowland (Vojvodina), outside the karst region of Serbia. The cavity is formed in the Badenian reef limestone on the northern hillside of the Fruska Gora mountain. The paper provides a paleontological description and taphonomic data on mammal remains collected from the loose sediments or scree. Herbivores are represented by Bison priscus (Bojanus, 1827), which is the most abundant species, followed by Megaloceros giganteus (Blumenbach, 1803) and Equus germanicus Nehring, 1884, with several remains of Mammuthus sp. and Coelodonta antiquitatis (Blumenbach, 1799). Carnivores are represented by Ursus spelaeus ingressus (Rabeder et al., 2004), Crocuta crocuta spelaea (Goldfuss, 1823), Panthera leo spelaea (Goldfuss, 1810), as well as Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758. Wolf remains are characterized by their large size, almost reaching the size of hyenas, which is in contrast with the finds of rather small Pleistocene wolves from the caves in the mountainous part of Serbia. The faunal composition and the presence of mostly grazing forms among the herbivores indicate glacial conditions and an open landscape in the surroundings of the site during the formation of the Janda cavity infill. Taphonomic observations indicate the cave hyena as a dominant bone accumulating agent. In contrast to other cave hyena sites in Serbia, where mostly small and medium sized prey remains were accumulated, prey preference for large and extra large mammals is noted. It is supposed that this is the consequence of the differences between mountainous and lowland landscapes and environments, climatic conditions, different composition of animal and plant associations, and also in different modes of competitions between predators. PB - Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd, Oxford T2 - Quaternary International T1 - The Janda cavity at Fruska Gora, the first cave assemblage from the southeast Pannonian lowland (Vojvodina, Serbia) EP - 111 SP - 97 VL - 339 DO - 10.1016/j.quaint.2013.06.005 ER -
@article{ author = "Dimitrijević, Vesna and Dulić, Ivan A. and Cvetković, Nevena J.", year = "2014", abstract = "The recently discovered Janda cavity yielded the first large mammal fossil assemblage of the Late Pleistocene age in the southeast Pannonian lowland (Vojvodina), outside the karst region of Serbia. The cavity is formed in the Badenian reef limestone on the northern hillside of the Fruska Gora mountain. The paper provides a paleontological description and taphonomic data on mammal remains collected from the loose sediments or scree. Herbivores are represented by Bison priscus (Bojanus, 1827), which is the most abundant species, followed by Megaloceros giganteus (Blumenbach, 1803) and Equus germanicus Nehring, 1884, with several remains of Mammuthus sp. and Coelodonta antiquitatis (Blumenbach, 1799). Carnivores are represented by Ursus spelaeus ingressus (Rabeder et al., 2004), Crocuta crocuta spelaea (Goldfuss, 1823), Panthera leo spelaea (Goldfuss, 1810), as well as Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758. Wolf remains are characterized by their large size, almost reaching the size of hyenas, which is in contrast with the finds of rather small Pleistocene wolves from the caves in the mountainous part of Serbia. The faunal composition and the presence of mostly grazing forms among the herbivores indicate glacial conditions and an open landscape in the surroundings of the site during the formation of the Janda cavity infill. Taphonomic observations indicate the cave hyena as a dominant bone accumulating agent. In contrast to other cave hyena sites in Serbia, where mostly small and medium sized prey remains were accumulated, prey preference for large and extra large mammals is noted. It is supposed that this is the consequence of the differences between mountainous and lowland landscapes and environments, climatic conditions, different composition of animal and plant associations, and also in different modes of competitions between predators.", publisher = "Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd, Oxford", journal = "Quaternary International", title = "The Janda cavity at Fruska Gora, the first cave assemblage from the southeast Pannonian lowland (Vojvodina, Serbia)", pages = "111-97", volume = "339", doi = "10.1016/j.quaint.2013.06.005" }
Dimitrijević, V., Dulić, I. A.,& Cvetković, N. J.. (2014). The Janda cavity at Fruska Gora, the first cave assemblage from the southeast Pannonian lowland (Vojvodina, Serbia). in Quaternary International Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd, Oxford., 339, 97-111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.06.005
Dimitrijević V, Dulić IA, Cvetković NJ. The Janda cavity at Fruska Gora, the first cave assemblage from the southeast Pannonian lowland (Vojvodina, Serbia). in Quaternary International. 2014;339:97-111. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2013.06.005 .
Dimitrijević, Vesna, Dulić, Ivan A., Cvetković, Nevena J., "The Janda cavity at Fruska Gora, the first cave assemblage from the southeast Pannonian lowland (Vojvodina, Serbia)" in Quaternary International, 339 (2014):97-111, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.06.005 . .