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Despite considerable natural resources and a favourable geographical location, all indicators of population trends show declining tendencies, which were indicated much earlier than they were recognized as a demographic problem. The aim of the article is to explore the dynamics and intensity of population change in Eastern Serbia, but without analytical approaches to the components of population dynamics. The chosen temporal and spatial coverage of the research is in accordance with the methodological approach, which provides for the application of the comparative-statistical method to as many spatial units as possible, in order to determine the spatial dispersion of the indicators of population growth. The data sources in this research are censuses, and the presented indicators of population growth were derived according to the methodology of demographic research. The obtained results show a weak increase in the population of Eastern Serbia from 1948 to 1961, since then the values of the growth indicators stagnate for a short time and then decrease continuously. In the whole observation period from 1948-2011, the growth index shows a 21% decrease in the population of Eastern Serbia. The average annual growth rates of the population in Eastern Serbia were lower than the average annual growth rates of the total population of Central Serbia in all intermediate census periods until 2011, and this difference is even more pronounced if the City of Niš is excluded from the total population of Eastern Serbia. Although the dynamics of population growth in Eastern Serbia in the period 1948-2011 is characterized by linearity (either in the form of increase or decrease), it is striking that not all parts of the country participate equally. Only 4 municipalities and the City of Niš recorded an increase in population, while in the other 20 municipalities the population decreased. In 10 municipalities depopulation was already recorded in 1953-1961.

Demographic projections represent a multi-purpose instrument in predicting the population development for the purpose of spatial planning and organizing as well as local economic development. In Serbia, demographic projections are very rarely produced on territorial levels lower than regional, therefore, the projections that are depicted in this work will be focused on the municipality of Negotin with the goal of observing an exceptionally depopulated area located in Eastern Serbia. The projections have been created with a time horizon of the year 2040 by using the cohort-component method which is well-established in literature as a prevailing method of producing population projections. Population projections for the municipality of Negotin have been constructed in three variants all relying on the initial hypotheses of fertility, mortality, and migrations. This is also the first time that such projections have been made separately for a rural and urban area of the municipality of Negotin. Results have shown that by the year 2040, the population will range between 17 and 18 thousand citizens, with the depopulation rate in rural areas being twice as high as that of urban ones. With the current demographic state in mind, it is evident that only direct interventions in the domain of migrational policies could slow down the pace of depopulation. This is due to the fact that the current fertility potential is undoubtedly insufficient to slow down depopulation even in the occurrence of a complete response to pronatalist policies.

The territory of Eastern Serbia throughout history was known for the presence of the Vlach population. The Vlachs came to northeastern Serbia from different regions and were divided into two groups: the Ungrujans and the Carans. The Ungrujans came from the area of Hungary (Transylvania and Banat), while the Carans came from Wallachia and Moldavia. These two groups were not homogeneous, they mixed with each other as well as with the local Serbian population. Nevertheless, during the 20th century and until today, the Vlachs kept their culture and customs, which are significantly different from the Serbian ones. Eastern Serbia is known for Vlach customs, which are inevitably connected with the use of magic, which was an inseparable part of Vlach culture, as well as folk medicine in these regions. Each place had its own sorcerer or sorceress to whom the local population turned for help. Not everyone could be a sorcerer, but this ability was passed down from generation to generation. The Vlachs have always had a rich and interesting mythology, a set of beings, deities, and demons to whom they turned when needed for help. A special place in Vlach magic was occupied by the cult of the Great Mother - Muma Paduri, who was the protector of women. The Vlachs also believe in the power of certain animals and plants that have magical effects. Rituals in Vlach culture were mostly performed in public places, at crossroads, next to rivers and roads. Ritual sites were generally considered off-limits to men, and many rituals are still performed that way today.

The restrictive reproductive model in Eastern Serbia, which appeared in pre- industrial rural society and without of sufficient development potential that would lead to the redefinition of ethical and general social norms, was in many ways similar to industrialized and urbanized societies. The expansive spread of the restricted model of reproduction was atypical in relation to the verme, place and conditions in which it appeared, and beyond all the theoretical postulates of the demographic transition. The paper analyzes the dynamics of change in both components of the natural population movement at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century and considers the ethnodemographic, ecocultural and socioeconomic context of birth and mortality, which interrelationship indicates the stages of the demographic transition. In addition to objective problems related to the quality of statistical data, the regional demographic differentiation of changes in birth mortality rates indicates a certain correlation between the intensity of the decline in birth and the ethnic structure of the population.

The article considers mythological representations and ritual practices associated with the personification of the plague among the Romanians of Oltenia (Romania) and the Romanians (or Vlachs) of the Timok Valley (Serbia). It is based on materials from the author’s field research in southwestern Romania and eastern Serbia. The custom of organising the plague commemoration on different calendar dates is analysed. Along with it, the author consistently examines the ways of making a “plague shirt” (Rom. cămaşa ciumii), the spread of this ritual practice, and the contexts of its use as a protection against diseases (plague and cholera) and death during the war, as well as correlations between the practice of making a “plague shirt” and the custom of the plague commemoration.

Since the first half of the nineteenth century, various census data have been collected regarding the ethnic characteristics of the Serbian population, although the data are incomplete and collected irregularly. The ten censuses conducted in the Principality of Serbia between 1833 and 1874 have immense archival value, but their usefulness for ethno-demographic studies is limited. Similarly, while the statistics collected in the censuses of the Kingdom of Serbia from 1874 to 1910 are somewhat more reliable than the previous ones, they suffer from the absence of a direct question on ethnicity. To determine the ethnic structure of the population during this time period, a researcher had to rely on an indirect approach through the identification of ethnic groups based on their linguistic affiliation. However, it is important to note that this method only provides an approximate estimation of ethnic composition. Despite this limitation, available census data can still provide valuable insights into the ethnic composition of the population of the Principality and Kingdom of Serbia, with the number and share of the Vlach population as the most numerous ethnic minority taking centre stage. This means that any data analyses must begin with the understanding that the indicators can only be presented for the Romanian-speaking population. If we accept the indirect approach to determining population ethnicity, we can deduce from the data that the number of Vlachs in Eastern Serbia increased up to 1895, and their percentage share increased up to 1884. It is noteworthy that the dynamics of the number of Vlachs until 1895 were relatively stable, implying that the increase was practically linear and consistent with the growth tendency of Serbia’s overall population at the time. Within the framework of demographic analysis, data on declared Vlachs in almost all censuses since the post-war census cannot be used to derive explainable demographic indicators. Therefore, it is reasonable to suspect that such data would also be of limited use in other academic fields, particularly in law, politics, and public life in general. This highlights the importance of paying closer attention to earlier ethno-statistic records, especially the first statistical aberration reported in the last decade of the nineteenth century.

This paper discusses the increased visibility of Vlach Romanian in the linguistic landscape of rural and small-town Eastern Serbia, analysing it in the context of the revitalisation measures the community has undertaken in the last 20 years. Our research was conducted in a mainly rural area, comprising four neighbouring municipalities in Eastern Serbia, with a dense Vlach population. We investigate a sample of the inscriptions we encountered, focusing on the intended audience of the inscriptions and correlating it with the basic functions of the signs (informational and symbolic). We show that, in the area under discussion, the signs have a mainly symbolic value, and are used as identity markers, as support for the legitimisation of the language, or as indexes of authenticity, while their informational function is apparent only in relation with the commodification of the language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depending on the existence and dominance of a resource in a certain rural area, different forms of rural tourism can be developed. Human resources are the most important factor in all forms of tourism business, including rural tourism. The subject of this paper is a survey of employee satisfaction in rural tourism, in Eastern Serbia - in the villages of the Timok region. The authors aimed to highlight the most important motivating factors of employees in smaller rural households. The technique of survey questionnaires was applied, while the obtained data were processed by the appropriate statistical method. The paper represents a modest contribution to the research of human resources motivation in the field of rural tourism, but the results obtained by the research can be recommendations to the general managers of rural households, in which way to best motivate their employees.

Biostratigraphy and sedimentology of the Pelsonian (Middle Anisian) carbonate Jelovica Fm sequence have been documented in detail in the Spomen Dom section (Jelovica-Visočka Ržana region of the Stara Planina Mts, Eastern Serbia). Abundant ammonoids and foraminifers, together with rare brachiopods, nautiloids, bivalves and crinoids characterize faunal associations of the ammonoid Balatonites balatonicus Zone and the foraminiferal Pilammina densa Zone. This is the first report based on ammonoid and foraminiferal faunas, which allowed initial biostratigraphic subdivision of the Middle Anisian strata from the whole Eastern Serbia region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the authors’ fi eldwork, the aim of the study is to fi nd out the degree of penetration of Bulgarian loanwords (along with loanwords from other languages) into the terminology for clothing worn by the Vlach-Tsaran people (in the territory of the communities of Zaječar (Zaječar district), Negotin and Kladovo (Bor district), i.e. in such historical areas as Timočka Krajina, Negotinska Krajina, and Ključ; they live in the neighboring regions of northwestern Bulgaria – in the Vidin region (the communities of Vidin, Bregovo and Boinitsa). To solve this problem, ethnological and linguistic materials are used. The wide usage of archaisms, Slavisms, words without a clear inner form (regionalisms), transformation of the meanings of lexical units, and assimilation of lexical borrowings from the modern Serbian language are typical for the vocabulary of the Tsaran dialect. Almost every Vlach village has formed its own version of traditional costume (while preserving the general type of the costume complex characteristic for all Vlachs in the area studied). The variety of folk dress has predetermined a considerable variability of terminology: in separate cases in the neighbouring settlements, not only could the same costume element be called diff erently, but one nomination could denote completely diff erent realities. Among the names of clothing elements, obvious borrowings from Bulgarian are terms such as pisté lcă or pristélcă ‘apronʼ, vấ lnic ‘woman’s loose-fi tting waistwearʼ, propoádă or broboádă ‘long headscarfʼ. Other terms of Slavonic origin are also recorded: ciupág (ciupágu, ciupáge, ciupágili), n., ‘the upper part of a shirt, blouseʼ; poálă (poála, poále, poálili), f., (usually in the plural – poále) ‘lower (separate) part of the shirtʼ, ‘lower skirtʼ; súcnă (súcna, súcne, súcnili), f., recorded in the village of Bukovče in Negotin region, is used here to mean “skirt” or, less commonly, “traditional unmade women’s waistwear”. Based on the results of the research, it can be said that the distinctive feature of the VlachTsaran dialect is that it has a number of denotative loanwords from Bulgarian and that some Turkisms appeared in it through Bulgarian, and not Serbian, as in the Banat cf. e.g. dialects (Olten. chébă and Banat. cébă and şébă; Olten. chiúrc and Banat. ciúrc). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The region of Carpathian Serbia is much dominated by karst terrain with numerous geological and geomorphological features, especially caves and natural stone bridges, potentially significant for geotourism development. The geotourism potential of these sites is still largely untapped. In this paper, we analyze several natural stone bridges that possess geotourism potential. These sites include Velika Vratna, Mala Vratna, Suva Vratna, Samar, Valja, Osanica and Rajska stone bridge. This study aims to identify and evaluate the current state and geotourism potential of natural stone bridges as important resources for the development of karst geotourism in Carpathian Serbia by applying the Modified Geosite Assessment Model (M-GAM). The results indicate that the Vratna River basin currently has the best-rated Main Values, but it comes short for Additional Values, especially tourism infrastructure meaning that this should be the primary focus of any future geotourism development of this site. On the other hand, Valja stone bridge has the highest Additional Values but still with plenty of room for improvement. The paper also indicates the importance of other karst features in the vicinity and their role in completing the geotourism offer of this area.

In archaeological literature, the site of Trnjane, near Bor in eastern Serbia is known as an urn necropolis, with 43 discovered urn graves. The excavations in Trnjane took place between 1985 and 1987-1989, and continued in 1998. The investigations also included an excavation of a nearby settlement, but the results of this research were never published. In most of the previous studies, Trnjane was assigned to the Middle and Late Bronze Age, while the necropolis was often connected with the spread of the Urnfield Phenomena from Central Europe toward the Balkans. New investigations started in 2017 as cooperation between the Archaeological Institute in Belgrade and the Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology (OREA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences shed new light on the chronology and cultural assignment of Trnjane and other similar surrounding sites in the region of eastern Serbia. The excavation of the settlement area in 2017 and 2018 yielded numerous finds indicating metallurgical activities connected with copper ore smelting (slag and ores), while pottery finds showed a typological resemblance with an Early and Middle Bronze Age repertoire. The radiocarbon dates from the settlement area and from urn graves of the neighbouring necropolis also point to a much earlier time than previously assumed. The new chronological determination of Trnjane raises a set of new questions, especially regarding the cultural connections between central Europe and the Balkans and transfers of copper ore smelting technology in the Bronze Age.

Torrential flood as a rainfall precipitation driven natural hazard occurs in the watershed that responds within several hours due to a rugged topography. The extraordinary torrential flood event from September 15 2014 in the Eastern Serbia with its severe consequences, widespread material damages and casualties, draw an attention of the Serbian public and is a topic of this work. The combined method of Soil Conservation Service and synthetic unit triangular hydrograph is used to calculate the effective rainfall and peak discharges in five affected watersheds (Podvrška, Velika Kamenica, Slatinska, Zamna, and Mala Kamenica) in order to define the extremeness of this event. Special attention is given to the determination of the lag time defining the unit hydrograph and the curve numbers of the studied watersheds on the base of land use and hydrological class of soils with regard to geology, considering antecedent soil moisture conditions. Taking into account the high curve number (due to the high share of soils with an unfavorable hydrological conditions and high share of agriculture areas in land use), the shortest time to peak (due to the highest mean slope of river bed), the highest specific maximal discharge on subject date (4.58 m3s−1 km−2) as well as sediment transport data, the highest priority for erosion and torrential flood control works is attributed to the Mala Kamenica watershed. The results of this work may be a significant contribution to the flood risk assessment on a watershed level in this part of Eastern Serbia that should always start with reviewing and analyzing the historical torrential flood events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lower-Middle Miocene sedimentary succession and the conformable/ unconformable relationships between the lacustrine-continental systems (i.e. DLS, SLS) and Badenian marine transgression represents one of the intrigue topics. Herein, we studied five exploration boreholes (eastern Serbia) and analyzed the main facies pattern, biostratigraphic characteristics of the Miocene succession, and applied the U-Pb radiometric dating of volcanic tuffs interstratified in the sedimentary series with coal layers (borehole NRKR- 17002). The obtained concordia age of 16.9 ±0.2 Ma for all the analysed zircon grains without any inherited cores indicate a single magmatic event. We definite the freshwater series originated during Early Miocene Karpatian (= late Burdigalian). Consequently, for the first time, we demonstrated that age of а part of the Serbian Lake System (SLS) is much older than it was previous reported. In addition, sporadic findings of foraminifers, ostracods and molluscs documented the late Badenian marine transgression in eastern Serbia. If accept this fact the flooding occurred later than in the rest of Serbia (< 14.5 Ma). However, the lack of quality data and unclear stratigraphic position of some parts of the clastic succession (? Lower-Middle Badenian) makes this claim uncertain. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 176015 and Grant no. 176019]

Karst areas, as areas with attractive geological and geomorphological features are an important and integral part of geoheritage. They possess huge tourism potential and can be used for the development of geotourism. The Pek River basin is a highly dominant karst terrain with numerous geological and geomorphological features, especially caves. However, their geotourism potential still remains fully unrevealed. In this paper, we analyzed several geosites that represent significant karst geoheritage formations and as such they can be the backbone of future geotourism development in this area. The aim of this paper is to emphasize the geotourism potential of the Pek River lower basin and to determine the current state and geotourism potential of these geosites by applying the modified geosite assessment model (M-GAM).

Mining activities in the Bor and Majdanpek mining areas in Eastern Serbia started in 1903 and 1961, respectively. Environmental problems in the Bor mining area began after the opening of the Bor mine. Long‐term pollution of river water in the Bor and Majdanpek mining areas has an environmental impact on East Europe because all of the river water from these mining areas flows into the Danube River. However, the sizes of areas with pollution and the differences between the environmental impacts of the Bor and Majdanpek mining areas are not clear. In order to determine the effects of mining activities on river water in the study area, creation of geochemical maps showing the distributions of sulfate, heavy metals, and arsenic; estimation of threshold values to discriminate anomalous values from background values; and comparison of the environmental impacts of the two mining areas were carried out. High concentrations of SO42−, Fe, As, Cu, and Mn were found in the Bor River, Krivelj River, and Bela River located in the Bor mining area. These rivers are characterized by acidic pH ranging from 2.9 to 6.2. High concentrations of these components were also measured in the Small Pek River and the upper reach of the Pek River. These rivers are located in the Majdanpek mining area and are characterized by weakly alkaline pH (7.3–8.4). The acidic river water in the Bor mining area transports large quantities of heavy metals and arsenic downstream (6,900 t/year of Fe, 42 t/year of As, 910 t/year of Cu, and 187 t/year of Mn). On the other hand, the weakly alkaline river water in the Majdanpek mining area transports smaller quantities of heavy metals and arsenic downstream (160 t/year of Fe, 0.1 t/year of As, 6 t/year of Cu, and 272 t/year of Mn). The environmental impact of the Bor mining area is significantly larger than that of the Majdanpek mining area. In addition, on the basis of the distribution of anomalous values in river water, pollution caused by mining activities reaches the Danube River, which is located more than 100 km from the Bor and Majdanpek mining areas. Concentrations of SO42−, Fe, As, Cu, and Mn in the Bela River in the Bor mining area have been greatly decreased after mixing of acidic polluted water of the Bela River with water of the Timok River containing a high bicarbonate concentration. This fact suggests that river water in the Bor and Majdanpek mining areas has sufficient capacity for neutralization. Considering appropriate countermeasures of environmental reclamation, such as artificial neutralization at some important sources of waste water before discharging the waste water from the mining sites, there is a possibility for environmental reclamation in both mining areas because unpolluted river water in the study area has sufficient capacity for neutralization in a natural system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An exploratory borehole cross-cutting Miocene deposits near Derezna (south of Kučevo town, Eastern Serbia) has intercepted Lower Cretaceous carbonate rocks in its lower part. The identified microfacies and micropaleontological associations indicate a Barremian age for these limestones. Among the identified dasycladalean algae, Salpingoporella patruliusi Bucur, a generally rare alga, is here recorded in relatively high abundance. Its occurrence is recorded for the first time in Serbia. Similiclypeina aff. somalica (Conrad et al.) is another dasycladalean species identified for the first time in the region. Its presence allows us to make some remarks concerning the two genera Similiclypeina and Piriferella. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of the Science and Technology Park (STP) on the development of one region can be considered through many reasons for establishment of STPs. STP represent useful instrument which creates conditions for promoting innovations, entrepreneurship, growth of knowledge-based companies, while the output results are reflected in economic growth of the region. Due to declining demographic trends in region of eastern Serbia, especially considering young population and phenomenon of “brain drain”, the goal of STP is to provide conditions for intellectual companionship at the highest level, to create chances to exchange knowledge and ideas, to improve potential of the community and to increase knowledge and achieve suitable bilateral cooperation with similar entities in the world. This paper provides review of possible benefits of establishing STP in city of Bor, based on scientific-research potential of Eastern Serbia region.

A new species of troglobitic trechine ground beetles is described from the Ceremošnja Cave in eastern Serbia - Duvalius (Paraduvalius) ceremosnjensis sp. n. All relevant morphological features of the new species are given and images of the new species are presented, along with the diagnosis with the closest relatives. The new trechine taxon is endemic to eastern Serbia.

Natural beauties of Eastern Serbia combined with the culture, traditions, food specialties and music, can become a recognizable tourism brand, which could improve the image of this part of Serbia, and that is the reason why Eastern Serbia has been recently discovering its potential for tourism development. The aim of this paper is to analyze the current and potential elements for tourism development of Eastern Serbia's products. Based on the relevant literature and factual situation on the field, the goal is to rank strategies for tourism development on the territory of Eastern Serbia in order to enable better positioning of tourism in Eastern Serbia on the Serbian tourist map. In order to rank tourism development strategies we have used neutrosophic sets. The justification and usability of the proposed approach for the selection of tourism development strategy is demonstrated in the implemented numerical example.

This study examines success factors and motivation of entrepreneurs in the rural areas of the Eastern Serbia. The survey of the eighty entrepreneurs in the two municipalities has been conducted on the Zaječar district territory, and it included 14 villages. The weak economy, the depopulation process and the lack of financial sources are identified as problems, while the hard work and the quality of the products (services) are crucial success factors. On the other hand, political involvement had the lowest significance as the success factor. The results also indicate that the strongest motivators of the researched entrepreneurs were to be one's own boss and to increase one's own income.

The aim of this work is to research, analyze and realistically assess the possibilities and opportunities of marketing and similar tools and resources in order to record certain changes in tourist demand, with an emphasis on undeveloped areas of eastern Serbia. Marketing is given a crucial, strategic role, especially in the part of highlighting current trends in the tourism market, creating a sustainable and decent concept of marketing mix, finding effective marketing communications, branding destinations, etc. Mass tourism is no longer in the trend. People intensively want to stay in ecologically pure nature, attractive, exciting spaces, to experience the authentic emotions of new spheres of tourism, are ready for higher costs, looking for elements of adventure, excitement, to experience ethno tourism in the countryside, go to the wine roads, actively participate in an unusual local event, etc. New trends analyze spheres such as active holidays, alternative, adventurous tourism, staying in nature, new challenges. There will be an accent on underdeveloped areas in Branicevo, Borski, Zajecar and Pirot.

Starting from the role Sanda Golopenția played in establishing a digitized corpus of Romanian charms and in the advancement of scholarship on charms and charming, the author considers possible solutions for creating a corpus of Vlach Romanian charms. After an overview of Golopenția's activity, the author introduces the Vlach Romanian community of Eastern Serbia, focusing on their specific traditional culture, which has developed, in the last two centuries, at the intersection of two cultures, Romanian and Serbian. In the light of the fact that 'Vlach magic' is today a real cultural brand of the community, the paper further details on the charm collecting activity taking place in the region in the last hundred years. The recorded texts form a rather heterogeneous collection, transcribed using different orthographies and even alphabets, by Serbian or Romanian researchers. In spite of the relatively large number of existing texts, a corpus of Vlach Romanian charms is still to be compiled. The author stresses that this task could be fulfilled following Golopenția's ideas and principles, which, even if more than three decades old, prove extremely useful even today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The faunistic review of Lepidoptera, Heterocera in the eastern Serbia area, with ecological characteristics and zoogeographical distribution is presented. Author gives details of Lepidoptera species collected in the years 1998, 2014 and 2016 respectively. In total, 44 species are registered, of which there were 1Tineidae, 1 Limacodidae, 1 Cossidae, 1 Pterophoridae, 1 Thyrididae, 2 Lasiocampidae, 1 Sphingidae, 1 Drepanidae, 13 Geometridae, 4 Notodontidae, 8 Erebidae, 8 Noctuiodae and 1 Nolidae species. Some of them show narrow distribution, of which 15 are recorded for the second, or third, time in Serbia. Illustration of some habitats, adults and genitalia slides are given.

This article presents climate characteristics of a hilly-mountainous area in Eastern Serbia. The area belongs to the Carpathian-Balkan geophysical system according to climate data obtained by multi-annual measurements (from 1971 to 2010) at selected meteorological stations typical of this area. We applied the method of the altitudinal gradients of the climatic elements. The gradients values were based on the data obtained at Negotin lowland meteorological (weather) station (located at 42 m above the sea level), and at Crni vrh mountain weather station (located at 1,037 m above the sea level) within the study area. Using the calculated linear gradients, we obtained the values of climate elements for specific altitudes (from 100 to 1,100 m a.s.l.), characterized by altitudinal distribution of certain forest zones in this area. The paper presents annual, seasonal and growing season values for the major climate elements that affect the growth of vegetation. These are: temperature and precipitation regimes, climate-geographical features, Lang's Rain Factor that was used as a basis for the vegetation-based climate classification. The climate type was determined both after Thornthwaite's and after Lang's method. The study results can be used as an indicator needed for the purposes of regional climatology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The region of Eastern Serbia is a highly dominant karst terrain with numerous geological and geomorphological features, especially caves. The speleotourism potential of these caves and other geosites still remains fully unrevealed. In this paper, we analyzed several caves with immense geotourism potential. These caves include Ceremošnja Cave, Ravništarka Cave, Resavska Cave, Rajkova Cave, Lazareva Cave and Vernjikica Cave. The aim of this paper is to emphasize the speleotourism potential of Eastern Serbia and to determine the current state and speleotourism potential of caves located in this area by applying the modified geosite assessment model (M-GAM). The results indicate that further speleotourism development should primarily be focused towards Rajkova Cave which has the highest main values. The results also emphasize the importance of additional (tourist) values which are currently at a low level among all analyzed geosites. This especially refers to tour guide service, interpretive panels and promotional activities which proved to be key elements at these types of destinations. Major improvement of these elements is necessary in the future in order to attract a larger number of visitors to these sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a brief review of the main online outlets for the variety of Romanian spoken in Eastern Serbia (Vlach Romanian), exploring the possible functions the internet plays for minority language communities in general and focusing on its role in the formation of active communities of collaborative minority language producers. We will first briefly introduce the Vlach community and their language, Vlach Romanian, and examine how it is used online by the main actors involved in the debate regarding the origin and status of their language (which we call the independentists and the reintegrationists), but also by non-engaged members of the Vlach community, who promote the active use online of this mostly oral variety. The main online initiatives we present are Paun Durlić's website, the website of Matka Vlahilor association and the Vlasi na kvadrat Facebook page. We contend that the internet activity, both of the language activists and of the unengaged members of the community, mirrors their offline, real-world ideologies, but, at the same time, challenges the ideologies of contempt generally surrounding minority languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archaeology & Science / Arheologija i Prirodne Nauke is the property of Institute of Archaeology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the article the author considers the basic ideas of the Moscow ethnolinguistic school on the basis of several examples from the South Slavic cultural dialects. The methods are similar to the technique of isolating certain linguistic dialects and cultural dialects; much attention is paid to justification of the concept “cultural dialect.” Eastern Serbia and western Bulgaria were taken as an example for the analysis of dialects based on phonetic, grammatical features and those that are observed in folk culture and which are reflected in its terminological vocabulary. Research was carried out into one of the main arealogical regularities that is linked to the interaction between cultural and language contexts of its functioning (in the sphere of beliefs and rituals, in folklore texts - legends, stories about encounters with supernatural beings, etc.). For example, “bear’s day” shows the areal scheme of concentric circles, according to which the central place belongs to the terminological vocabulary, as far as the distance from the center is concerned, there are only rituals and beliefs associated with the “bear” symbols of the holiday, and the wide range covers the extent of the legend of St. Andrew riding a bear. The paper concludes with a description of the geographic background in the ethnolinguistic dictionary Slavic Antiquities, whose main purpose is a reconstruction of old Slavic culture aided by the linguistic method of study of folk culture, i.e. the study of verbal expressions for a number of cultural phenomena (lexical and phraseological items).

This study examines success factors and motivation of entrepreneurs in the rural areas of the Eastern Serbia. The survey of the eighty entrepreneurs in the two municipalities has been conducted on the Zaječar district territory, and it included 14 villages. The weak economy, the depopulation process and the lack of financial sources are identified as problems, while the hard work and the quality of the products (services) are crucial success factors. On the other hand, political involvement had the lowest significance as the success factor. The results also indicate that the strongest motivators of the researched entrepreneurs were to be ones own boss and to increase ones own income.

Natural beauties of Eastern Serbia combined with the culture, traditions, food specialties and music, can become a recognizable tourism brand, which could improve the image of this part of Serbia, and that is the reason why Eastern Serbia has been recently discovering its potential for tourism development. The aim of this paper is to analyze the current and potential elements for tourism development of Eastern Serbias products. Based on the relevant literature and factual situation on the feld, the goal is to rank strategies for tourism development on the territory of Eastern Serbia in order to enable better positioning of tourism in Eastern Serbia on the Serbian tourist map. In order to rank tourism development strategies we have used neutrosophic sets. The justification and usability of the proposed approach for the selection of tourism development strategy is demonstrated in the implemented numerical example.

One of the starting methodological problems in demographic research is the definition of spatial extent, which mostly doesn’t correspond to spatial extent already defined by different levels of administrative-territorial unitsthat are used for distribution of usable statistical data. That’s why determining the spatial extent of a demographic research is closely tied with administrative-territorial division of the territory that is being researched, wherein the fact that differentiation of demographic phenomena and processes cannot be the only basis of setting the principles of regionalization must be strictly acknowledged. This problem is particularly common in historical demographic analyses of geographically determined wholes, which are in administratively-territorial sense represented by one or more smaller territorial units, with their borders changing through the history, which directly affects comparability of the statistical data, and makes it considerably more difficult to track demographic change through longer time intervals. The result of these efforts is usually a solution based on a compromise which enables us to examine the dynamics of population change with little deviation from already defined borders of regional geographic wholes. For that reason in this paper the problem of defining spatial extent in demographic research is examined trough several different approaches in case of Eastern Serbia, as a geographically determined region, a historic area, a spatially functioning whole and as a statistical unit for demographic research, with no judgment calls in regard to any of the regionalization principles. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. III 47006]

Copyright of Marketing (0354-3471) is the property of SEMA - Srpsko udruzenje za Marketing i Ekonomski fakultet Beograd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Serbian Journal of Management is the property of Serbian Journal of Management and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Anthropology Magazine is the property of University of Belgrade, Faculty of Philosophy and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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Demographic analysis of certain population directly depending on the available statistical material which is distributed according to administrative-territorial units of different ranks, and often doesn`t coincide with the geographic areas. Although statistical evidence of the Serbian population has a long tradition, its use value in the demographic analysis strongly depends on several factors such as: frequent administrative-territorial changes, unequal intervals of censuses, changes on methodological solutions of statistical evidence, as well as the lack of uniformity characteristics of population and its distribution in the final results. Frequent administrative-territorial changes in Serbia during the XIX and XX century significantly make it difficult to continuous monitoring of long-term demographic changes that disturbs the criterion of comparability. Therefore, this paper specifically highlights methodological problems of reconciliation of available statistical material with administrative-territorial changes in the case of Eastern Serbia, and presents some suggestions for overcoming of problem which directly affects the quality of demographic analysis.

In this work we present the activity concentrations of natural radionuclides 40K, 226Ra, 232Th, 238U and 7Be in mosses. One hundred and sixty-seven moss samples were collected between 2001 and 2012 from the territory of the Sokobanja, Banja Jošanica and Gamzigradska Banja spas. They were classified into 23 species. The activity concentrations (Bq/kg) in moss from Sokobanja spa were: 40K 25-427; 226Ra 0.3-36; 232Th 1.0-37; 238U 0.4-28 and 7Be 29-210; from Banja Jošanica spa they were: 40K 90-242; 226Ra 2.4-11.7; 232Th 2.0-12.7; 238U 1.6-11.3 and 7Be 142-212; Gamzigradska Banja spa: 40K 95-351; 226Ra 8.0-21; 232Th 5.1-19; 238U 6.7-18 and 7Be 20-144. The activity concentrations of dominant natural radionuclides (potassium, radium, thorium and uranium) in the moss samples were within the usual ranges for the territory of Serbia. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. III 43009]

Climate change that has occurred at the end of the last and at the beginning of this century, among other things, has a certain impact on forests as well. For the territory of Eastern Serbia, for two periods of climate observations, the reference period 1961-1990 and the period 1991-2012, a comparative analysis of the following climatic elements was done: air temperature, amount of precipitation and relative humidity of air. Calculations were performed on the basis of collected and systematized data from 11 meteorological stations (6 synoptic/main climatological and 5 regular climatological) that were part of the Republic Hydrometeorological Service, situated in the area of Eastern Serbia. Analysis of the anomalies of air temperature and precipitation as indicators of climate change for the period 1991-2012 compared to the reference period 1961-1990 was done separately for each of the four seasons (winter, spring, summer, autumn) and summarized for each period. The results of the comparative analysis show that in the period 1991-2012 compared to the reference period 1961-1990, there was an increase in the average annual air temperature, as well as the increase in the average air temperature for all four seasons, and a decrease in the average annual amounts of precipitation and the decrease in the relative humidity of air. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 37008]

A coprological examination of 680 grazing sheep was performed in Eastern Serbia from March 2011 to November 2012 in order to determine the presence of gastrointestinal (GI) nematode parasites. Fecal samples were randomly collected and examined by using qualitative and quantitative coprological techniques. It was found that 74.56% sheep were infected. Samples that contained nematode eggs were processed for larval development and eleven nematode genera were identified: Haemonchus (46.91%), Ostertagia (25.88%), Marshallagia (21.91%), Cooperia (14.12%), Trichostrongylus (39.85%), Nematodirus (35.88%), Bunostomum (23.97%), Strongyloides (17.06%) Oesophagostomum (40.73%), Chabertia (32.79%) and Trichuris (10.88%). Higher prevalence of infection was observed in females (p<0.01), as well as in adults (p<0.001). Regarding the intensity of infection, in 40.63% sheep it was low, in 51.87% moderate and in 7.50% high. There was no difference in intensity of infection considering sex and age of animals. Moreover, simultaneous infection with different number of nematode genera was dependent on sheep's age (p<0.001). These results suggest that GI nematodes are a conspicuous problem of grazing sheep in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increase in interest to the Pliensbachian palaeobiogeography of Europe makes urgent consideration of palaeontological data from the regions not taken into account earlier. The representative bivalve records of eastern Serbia and some other European territories (a total of 88 species belonging to 42 genera) permits quantitative assessment of similarity of the Pliensbachian faunas with the Jaccard Index, the Czekanowski's Quantified Coefficient, and the Gower Index. It is established that the Pliensbachian bivalves of eastern Serbia are most similar to those of Bulgaria and France; the similarity to several other European territories is moderate and surprisingly almost the same. The similarity of the Pliensbachian bivalves between the Danubian and Infra-Getic tectonic units constituting the territory of eastern Serbia is significant. The interpretation of the results of this study in the light of the palaeobiogeographical reconstructions implies that the Northwestern European biochore is heterogeneous because of different similarity of the regions within this unit. The bivalve fauna of Portugal is relatively more distinct from the other territories considered in this study (Germany, England, France, etc.). Eastern Serbia was located at or near the transition between Northwestern European (Boreal) and Mediterranean (Tethyan) biochores, and its bivalve fauna is the most similar to those of Bulgaria and France. The results of the present study also show that ammonites and especially brachiopods are more suitable tools for the Pliensbachian palaeobiogeographical reconstructions than bivalves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systematical archaeological excavations at the site Gamzigrad - Felix Romuliana continued in 2007-2008 in the south-eastern part of the fortified imperial palace, in the section of the thermae according to the plan of archaeological research for this site (2005-2009). In 2007, squares L'XXIV, M'XXIV, M'XXIH and M'XXII, which were investigated in 2005 to the horizon c, dated to the end of the 5th and the beginning of the 6th centuries, were completely excavated to the level of the porch of the earlier fortification of Romuliana (Plan 1). The stratigraphy of the cultural layers in these squares is as follows (Fig. 1): Below horizon c there is a layer of construction rubble mixed with brownish-yellow, clay like, sandy soil, 50-75 cm thick, comprising the finds dated in the last quarter of the 4th-5th centuries, layer D; The level of layer D is horizon d, where a structure destroyed in a conflagration, house 1/07, was discovered in squares M'XXII and M'XXIII. It could be dated, on the basis of the preserved household (pottery, metal and antler items, coins, etc.), from the last quarter of the 4th to the middle of the 5th century; Horizon d 1 is a mortar floor discovered beneath horizon d, which presents the earlier phase of house 1/07; Horizon d 2 is the earliest mortar floor inside the house 1/07, covered with a later mortar floor (horizon d 1) and a levelling layer of yellow sand and gravel, which comprises the finds dating also to the last quarter of the 4th to the middle of the 5th centuries; Layer E, 15-40 cm thick, is below horizon d, comprising dark brown soil with rubble and lenses of soot at the bottom, together with finds dated to the second half of the 4th century; Horizon e is covered with layer E, and spread across all the squares which were investigated to the south and to the east of Galerius' bath, where 8 large postholes, which outlined a space 7 x 3 m large and probably some kind of porch, were found along with two furnaces and two pits; Layer F, about 30 cm thick, is the substructure of horizon e and it comprises crushed stone and pebbles mixed with lime mortar, and in places has a levelling of reddish-brown sand. Finds here were dated to the end of the 3rd and the first half of the 4th centuries; Horizon f is a mortar floor of the later fortification of Felix Romuliana at a level of 184.75 m in the west and 184.55 m in the east (an average level of 184.64 m), which was interrupted by a trench running in an east-west direction along the southern section of squares L'-M'XXIV. The trench was filled with soot, small rubble and reddish-brown sand and comprised a large amount of artifacts, such as pottery and glass fragments, metal and bone items and coins dated to the second half of the 3rd century (Fig. 4). Layer G consists of dark brown and yellowish-brown clay with small rubble and soot. It was a levelling layer above the intense construction rubble from the previous horizon and a substructure of horizon f. This layer comprised archaeological finds dated to the end of the 3rd and the first half of the 4th centuries and to the prehistoric period (Early Iron Age); Horizon g is a mortar floor of the porch of the southern and eastern rampart of the earlier fortification of Romuliana. 4 pillars of the eastern porch (pillars 1-4, discovered in 2004-2005), a corner pillar in an L-shape (pillar 5) and one pillar of the southern porch (pillar 6) have been ascertained. From this level the water and sewage canals were dug (Fig. 5). In squares K'XXII-XXIII a trench, measuring 4 x 2 m, in an east-west direction, was opened which aimed to investigate the layers beneath the Roman horizon g. The stratigraphy in this trench is as follows: - Layer G at a level of about 184.53 m; - Layer H, about 35 cm thick, is greenish-yellow clay in which Roman canals were buried, comprising the fragments of the Early and Late Iron Age pottery and fragments of reddish rammed earth (Fig. 2); Layer I, about 20cm thick, is greenish-brown clay, comprising the scarce fragments of the Early and Late Iron Age pottery; Virgin soil consists of yellow clay starting from a level of 184.00 m in the west and of 183.60 m in the east. In 2008, the remains of an earlier building were discovered beneath the floor of the apodyterium of Galerius' bath found in 2002 and below the foundation of the sudatorium and the tepidarium of the same structure, which were found in 2005. Also, for the purposes of conservation and restoration of the thermae, an apsidal room next to the west wall of the apodyterium, so called 'Galerius' dressing room', was completely filled with construction rubble, among which was found a part of an abraded vault (Fig. 6). Excavations proved that the apsidal room had been a pool with cold water, a frigidarium, which was twice renovated and was decorated with mosaic made of black, white and grey stone cubes (Fig. 7). The phases of reconstruction of the frigidarium could also be noticed in its eastern wall (Fig. 8). Also in the rubble inside the pool, glass mosaic cubes of deep blue and golden colours were discovered, indicating the decoration of the vault. In the latest phase, two pillars were constructed to carry the stairs made of stone slabs (Fig. 8). The earliest phase of this room, which had a rectangular layout and a mortar floor, could be part of the building dating back to before Galerius' bath (Plan 2). During the cleaning of the eastern wall of the frigidarium, a semicircular niche with a fresco decoration of geometrical and figural motives, painted in black, dark red, orange and blue on an ochre surface, was discovered (Fig. 3). Under Galerius' bath, a large earlier building was investigated (trenches 1-5/08). Only its foundation zone is preserved. The walls of the Imperial bath were founded on the earlier walls, which were 0.65 m thick and had foundations which were 0.90 m thick (Plan 2). The pilaster of the west faeade of the thermae was also founded on the earlier wall, but it destroyed a water canal (canal A discovered inside the south room of Galerius' bath in 2004), which was constructed after the earlier structure and before the Imperial bath (Fig. 9). It is interesting that the part of the earlier building to the west of the thermae was not demolished during the construction of the Imperial residence. It was adapted and incorporated into the plan of the fortified palace. The original construction was a large public building, probably theprincipia, with a row of rooms around a large courtyard, the atrium. The entrance, which had a porch and a pylon with two square towers and thresholds made of stone slabs, was in the north. (Figs. 10-14) Previously, this building was mistakenly dated to the 4th-5th centuries, because it had been reused in Late Roman and Early Byzantine periods. (Figs. 15-18) However, based on the results of the new research, it could be dated to the 3rd century. .