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Wild beast spectacles (venationes) in Roman amphitheatres required a complex network of organization – from wildlife capturing and transport to their maintenance, displays in the arena, and processing their corpses after death. Numerous depictions in ancient texts and iconography are related to venationes and they give some insight into the supply and management of wildlife used in amphitheatre games. However, these are considered to be highly exaggerated, and they are usually not concerned with the vast majority of provincial amphitheatres, but only to spectacles held in just a few urban centres (e.g. Rome). Archaeozoological data from areas of several Roman provincial amphitheatres have given additional insights into the usage of wild beasts in arena shows throughout the Empire. One of the largest amphitheatre faunal collections originates from the military amphitheatre of Viminacium – the post of the 7th Claudia Legion, and capital of the province of Moesia Superior. Previous studies on wildlife remains from Viminacium amphitheatre indicated the usage of locally available beasts (brown bears, wild boars and red deer), as well as exotics (big cats). This paper will discuss the supply and management of those beasts through the combination of archaeozoological and genetic evidence. More precisely it will examine their origin via genetic evidence, as well as the way of their use in the arena by examination of skeletal trauma.

The paper presents the results of the analysis of six worked bones discovered during archaeological excavations of the medieval settlement at the site of Crkveno Brdo. The site is located in the municipality of Senta, in the vicinity of the village of Gornji Breg, at a distance of about 1.5 km to the south-west of the village centre. During the archaeological excavations in 2019, part of the settlement dated from the 11th to the 13th century was excavated. Additionally, the existence of cultural layers, dated in a wider chronological range between the 11th and the 15th century, was revealed. The results of the analysis of the worked bones indicate that bones of the most important economic species, mainly horse and cattle, were used as a raw material between the 11th and the 13th century. Out of the total number of finds, five specimens represent skates with identical macro and micro traces of manufacturing and use, while the sixth finding can be interpreted as a pointed tool with rough production traces.

The pronounced growth in livestock populations since the 1950s has altered the epidemiological and evolutionary trajectory of their associated pathogens. For example, Marek’s disease virus (MDV), which causes lymphoid tumors in chickens, has experienced a marked increase in virulence over the past century. Today, MDV infections kill >90% of unvaccinated birds, and controlling it costs more than US$1 billion annually. By sequencing MDV genomes derived from archeological chickens, we demonstrate that it has been circulating for at least 1000 years. We functionally tested the Meq oncogene, one of 49 viral genes positively selected in modern strains, demonstrating that ancient MDV was likely incapable of driving tumor formation. Our results demonstrate the power of ancient DNA approaches to trace the molecular basis of virulence in economically relevant pathogens.

Advances in paleogenomic research have provided new information about domesticated animals, but we still know little about the history of cats. Until now, only one subspecies, the Near Eastern wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica), was known to have been domesticated. The domestication areas were assumed to be the Near East and Egypt. From this region, cats spread to the Mediterranean and beyond. It has been accepted that the Roman legions played the primary role in the expansion of cats through northern Europe. However, we found that cats that carried mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotypes of wildcats from the Near East were present in Central Europe as early as the Neolithic, well before Roman times, and may have been associated with Neolithic expansion. Our new results reveal the presence of the mtDNA haplotypes of the Near Eastern wildcats in Poland even in the pre-Neolithic period. This may suggest that the Near Eastern wildcats could have spread across Europe independently of agricultural expansion. Consequently, the natural range of Near Eastern wildcats may have been much broader than previously assumed. To understand how and when domestic cats appeared in Central Europe, we performed a target enrichment of ca. 57,000 genomic SNPs. We believe that this will allow us to definitively determine whether the appearance of the Near Eastern wildcat mtDNA in Central Europe was a natural admixture between the two subspecies or whether it was a human-induced dispersal of tame/domestic cats. The study is supported by the National Science Centre, Poland, grant no. 2019/35/B/HS3/02923.

Advances in paleogenomic research have provided new information about domesticated ani- mals, but we still know little about the history of cats. Until now, only one subspecies, the Near Eastern wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica), was known to have been domesticated. The domestica- tion areas were assumed to be the Near East and Egypt. From this region, cats spread to the Mediterranean and beyond. It has been accepted that the Roman legions played the primary role in the expansion of cats through northern Europe. However, we found that cats that carried mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotypes of wildcats from the Near East were present in Cen- tral Europe as early as the Neolithic, well before Roman times, and may have been associated with Neolithic expansion. Our new results reveal the presence of the mtDNA haplotypes of the Near Eastern wildcats in Poland even in the pre-Neolithic period. This may suggest that the Near Eastern wildcats could have spread across Europe independently of agricultural expansion. Consequently, the natural range of Near Eastern wildcats may have been much broader than previously assumed. To understand how and when domestic cats appeared in Central Europe, we performed a target enrichment of ca. 57,000 genomic SNPs. We believe that this will allow us to definitively determine whether the appearance of the Near Eastern wildcat mtDNA in Central Europe was a natural admixture between the two subspecies or whether it was a human-induced dispersal of tame/domestic cats. The study is supported by the National Science Centre, Poland, grant no. 2019/35/B/HS3/02923.

This paper aims to provide insight into the etiology and differential diagnosis of a raresevere pathological lesion in an isolated equine tooth from the medieval site ofCrkveno Brdo. The site is located in the southern part of the Carpathian Basin, thatis, in the northern part of present-day Serbia near Senta, some 9 km south-west ofthe town center in the vicinity of the village of Gornji Breg. The specimen presentedin this study comes from the cultural layer dated to the period between the 14th andthe 15th centuries. A healed oblique fracture was present in the right upper secondpremolar (106) of a horse (Equus caballus) 7–10 years of age. The specimen was subjectedto an interdisciplinary approach, including identification of species and toothtype, and assessment of age at death, employing microcomputed tomography(microCT), and histopathology to differentially diagnose the pathological condition.The obtained results were additionally compared with findings in an apparently similarmodern case of known etiology.

Various socio-economic changes, including the introduction of metallurgy, mark the long duration of the Vinča culture. For detailed studies of the transformations of the Vinča societies, analyses of subsistence and economy must also be placed on the chronological line. The small-sized excavations carried out in 2018 at the Late Neolithic site of Jablanica (c. 5000–4700 BC) in central Serbia provided a faunal assemblage that enabled analyses of animal exploitation patterns, bone technology and also provided the samples for radiocarbon dating. The faunal remains show the predominance of domestic species, especially cattle. The site also yielded approximately 90 artefacts produced from bone and antler, including finished objects, preforms and manufacturing debris. Predominant raw materials were bones, mainly long bones, metapodials and ribs, followed by red deer antlers. Also, one artefact from Spondylus shell was found. Awls were the most frequent techno-type, and the typological repertoire also included other pointed tools, scrapers and other tools. Several preforms (mainly awls) and manufacture debris provided evidence of a working area or workshop within the settlement. Absolute dates showed that the beginning of the Late Neolithic occupation at the site of Jablanica could be equated with the relative depths of 4.5 meters at the type site of Vinča – Belo Brdo, or the late Vinča Pločnik I (Vinča C) period, while the radiocarbon dates associated with the end of the Late Neolithic occupation of the site can be correlated to layers between 4.0 and 3.5 meters at the type site of Vinča, i.e., the Vinča Pločnik IIa.

The Late Neolithic period in Southeast Serbian Banat is marked by a host of Vinča culture sites located between the Danube and the Vršac mountains, the south end of the Carpathian mountain range in this area. It is a predominantly flat landscape enclosed by extensive former marshes of Mali and Veliki Rit in the northwest, Vršac mountains in the northeast, and Deliblato sands and River Nera in the southwest and the southeast. Over 40 late Neolithic sites are known throughout the area, most from surveys, but some also excavated. Between 2020 and 2022, as part of the Regional Absolute Chronologies of the Late Neolithic in Serbia project, funded by the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia, At and Potporanj sites were radiocarbon dated to produce detailed, Bayesian statistical model-based chronologies that could be used as a local chronological reference for future researchers of the Late Neolithic in the region. In this chapter, we present unified chronological data attributable to the beginning and ending phases of the Neolithic in this region.

Komplikacije sinuzitisa se najčešće javljaju kod egzacerebacija hroničnih sinuzitisa. Po lokalizaciji nastanka komplikacija podelili smo ih na egzokranijumske (osteomijelitis pljosnatih kostiju, orbitalne komplikacije , retrobulbarno zapaljenje očnog nerva), endokranijumske i ostale (mukokele i piokele). Orbitalne komplikacije su česta komplikacija sinuzitisa kod dece. One su podeljene u pet stadijuma: preseptalni celulitis, postseptalni orbitalni celulitis, subperiostalni apsces, orbitalni apsces, intrakranijalna zahvaćenost. Endokranijumske komplikacije sinusnog porekla znatno su ređe nego otogene, i obično se javljaju kada su narušene odbrambene snage organizma usled infektivnih i drugih bolesti. Dijagnoza sinuzitisa i njihovih komplikacija se postavlja inspekcijom, prednjom i zadnjom rinoskopijom, punkcijom i lavažom, sinusoskopijom i rentgenskom dijagnostikom. Danas se najčešće koriste savremene dijagnostičke tehnike pomoću modernih aparata kao što su CT, CBCT i magnetna rezonanca. Terapija zavisi od vrste i težine komplikacija, a može biti konzervativna ili hirurška. Prevencija nastanka sinuzitisa nije uvek moguća, međutim, pravovremenim postupcima moguće je smanjiti težinu i ponavljanje upale, te sprečiti nastanak hroničnog sinuzitisa.

There is a growing research and production interest for the application of lower-cost hybrid cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels composed of timber layers of dissimilar quality. Therefore, an approach for the design of cost-effective hybrid CLT panels in bending, based on the existing analytical and novel finite element procedures, is presented in the paper. The gamma-method, the extended gamma method, and the composite theory are applied in the analysis of square panels, while the finite element model based on the Reddy’s full layerwise theory is used for the complex-shape panels in bending. An extensive benchmark technical and economic study is performed for 25 CLT panels, considering various spans, lamination schemes, geometries, and boundary conditions. Cost savings made by using a lower timber class in central zones of CLT panels are highlighted and quantified. This concept shows an economic potential that should be considered during the design and production of CLT panels in structural engineering applications, such as lightweight floor structures.

Postoji sve veći interes za istraživanjem i izradom hibridnih križno lameliranih drvenih ploča (CLT) koje su sastavljene od slojeva drva različite kvalitete, a koje će smanjiti proizvodne troškove. Iz tog razloga ovaj se rad bavi pristupom projektiranja isplativih hibridnih CLT panela opterećenih na savijanje i to primjenom postojećih analitičkih postupaka te neispitanih postupaka konačnih elemenata. U analizi kvadratnih panela primjenjuju se gama-metoda, proširena verzija gama-metode te kompozitna teorija, a model temeljen na teoriji konačnih elemenata primjenjuje se ako je panel složenog oblika koji je opterećen na savijanje. Provedeno je opsežno istraživanje na 25 CLT panela u kojima se uzimaju u obzir različite dimenzije, sheme laminiranja, geometrije i rubni uvjeti. Ističu se i kvantificiraju uštede troškova koristeći niži razred drva u središnjim zonama CLT panela. Taj je koncept pokazao ekonomski potencijal koji bi se trebao uzeti u obzir tijekom projektiranja i proizvodnje CLT panela u konstrukcijskom inženjerstvu poput laganih podnih konstrukcija., There is a growing research and production interest for the application of lower-cost hybrid cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels composed of timber layers of dissimilar quality. Therefore, an approach for the design of cost-effective hybrid CLT panels in bending, based on the existing analytical and novel finite element procedures, is presented in the paper. The gamma-method, the extended gamma method, and the composite theory are applied in the analysis of square panels, while the finite element model based on the Reddy’s full layerwise theory is used for the complex-shape panels in bending. An extensive benchmark technical and economic study is performed for 25 CLT panels, considering various spans, lamination schemes, geometries, and boundary conditions. Cost savings made by using a lower timber class in central zones of CLT panels are highlighted and quantified. This concept shows an economic potential that should be considered during the design and production of CLT panels in structural engineering applications, such as lightweight floor structures.

This paper aims to assess the etiology and differential diagnosis of severe pathological lesions in wild and domestic cattle from the Late Neolithic site of At-Vršac in the northeast part of the present-day Serbia. Excavations of this multilayered site revealed the remains of a Late Neolithic settlement belonging to the Vinča culture network of the Central Balkans. An aurochs metacarpal bone, two domestic cattle fragments of fused ulna and radius and of tibia, all with massive bone proliferations were recovered during the archaeological excavations in 1976. Paleopathological study was undertaken using an interdisciplinary approach, including AMS dating, radiography, computed tomography (CT), and histopathology. The results show severe oblique healed fracture with secondary pronounced bone reaction in the aurochs metacarpal bone and in the domestic cattle ulna–radius, while traumatic alteration infected with disseminated osteomyelitis was found in the domestic cattle tibia. These pathologies of wild and domestic cattle are discussed to reveal the level of environmental and human influence on the origin and development of the lesions in the Late Neolithic cattle.

Animal remains are essential evidence of a historical ecology that has emerged as a powerful perspective for understanding and reconstructing the landscapes of the past. Zooarchaeological research can provide a significant contribution to issues beyond the animal related economies in the Early Byzantine period, such as the environmental conditions and landscape usage. The Early Byzantine site of Caričin Grad is situated 30 km southwest of Leskovac, in southern Serbia. Excavations at the site have revealed the remains of an important Early Byzantine city, which has been identified as Justiniana Prima, founded in the 530s by Justinian I. In this paper, results of the analysis of wild mammal and bird remains from Caričin Grad are considered as proxies for the reconstruction of the Early Byzantine city- and landscape. Also, this micro-ecological study provides research questions about broader contexts of humananimal interactions in the northern parts of the Early Byzantine Empire.

A recent study from Central Europe has changed our perception of the cat’s domestication history. The authors discuss how this has led to the development of an interdisciplinary project combining palaeogenetics, zooarchaeology and radiocarbon dating, with the aim of providing insight into the domestic cat’s expansion beyond the Mediterranean.

The paper presents the concept, methodology and preliminary results of the project Regional Absolute Chronologies of the Late Neolithic in Serbia that started in 2020 using a case study from the site of At near Vršac in northeast Serbia. The aim of the project is to create multiple new regional chronological strands consisting of Bayesian modelled radiocarbon dates from sites with material culture belonging to the tradition of the Late Neolithic period Vinča culture. Combining statistical seriation of pottery assemblages and the Bayesian statistical modelling framework of several case studies from various regions of Serbia, new regional chronological anchor points will be created, thus avoiding constant comparison with the assemblage and dating of the eponymous site of Belo Brdo in Vinča. This approach will overcome the effects of the regionalization of material culture evident in most ceramic assemblages located further than 100 kilometres away from the type site. Using archival archaeological records from previous excavations will enable an establishment of a geography of chronological reference points which would then provide new insights into the dynamics of the evolution of the Late Neolithic Vinča societies and changes that occurred throughout its territory during the late sixth and the larger part of the fifth millennia BCE.

This paper aims to present the first evidence of animal diseases from the Central Balkan Eneolithic, a prehistoric period that lasted about 2000 years. The eponymous site of Bubanj in south-eastern Serbia provided a diachronic perspective on animal pathologies developing during this long time period. We analyzed 71 animal remains showing evidence of pathological changes. All of the remains exhibiting anomalies were subjected to macroscopic analysis, while the specimens with the most prominent alterations also underwent X-ray and CT imaging. Anomalies were observed mostly in domestic animals. Only in caprines were all of the different types of anomalies present, with dental pathologies being the most frequent. Degenerative bone alterations were noted in around 78% of the domestic cattle specimens, while congenital anomalies were the most common type in domestic pigs. Pathological changes were also noted in dogs, aurochs, red deer, wild boars, beavers, and bears. In most cases, the anomalies were caused by hereditary and environmental factors. Caprine dental pathologies were the result of aging and poor-quality nutrition. In domestic cattle, besides being caused by environmental factors, the degenerative alterations might also have been work related. The lack of paleopathological data from other Eneolithic sites in the region, and the scarce or non-existent evidence from the previous (Neolithic) and succeeding (Bronze Age) periods prevented comparative analyses and discussion of the results within wider temporal and spatial frames. Establishing a paleopathological investigation of animal remains with anomalies from the prehistoric Central Balkans should be a standard, in order to provide us with a better understanding of human–animal interactions.

This paper aims to assess the etiology and differential diagnosis of severe pathological lesions in wild and domestic cattle from the Late Neolithic site of At-Vršac in the northeast part of the present-day Serbia. Excavations of this multilayered site revealed the remains of a Late Neolithic settlement belonging to the Vinča culture network of the Central Balkans. An aurochs metacarpal bone, two domestic cattle fragments of fused ulna and radius and of tibia, all with massive bone proliferations were recovered during the archaeological excavations in 1976. Paleopathological study was undertaken using an interdisciplinary approach, including AMS dating, radiography, computed tomography (CT), and histopathology. The results show severe oblique healed fracture with secondary pronounced bone reaction in the aurochs metacarpal bone and in the domestic cattle ulna–radius, while traumatic alteration infected with disseminated osteomyelitis was found in the domestic cattle tibia. These pathologies of wild and domestic cattle are discussed to reveal the level of environmental and human influence on the origin and development of the lesions in the Late Neolithic cattle.