Risovača hill, situated in Central Serbia, at the entrance to the town of Aranđelovac, boasts Risovača Cave, a major archaeological and paleontological site.
In the mid-20th Century surveys of the cave unearthed a host of fossilized bones and teeth of ancient animal species that used to live in this region during the Fourth Glacial Age. Cave bears, wild horses and donkeys, cave hyenas, cave foxes, cave lions, wooly rhinoceroses and wooly mammoths were just some of the animals that migrated southward from the north of Europe to avoid huge climate change during this period. And it was here that they chose to settle.
Although no human remains were discovered on the site, the tools made of stone and bones that were found provide evidence that our ancestors once dwelled in Risovača cave. Stone hatchet, stone axe and chisel, as well as tools made of bones, such as bradawl and dagger, suggest that hunting was the main human activity at the time, while tools like scrapers used for leather and fur refinement and a fastener for leather clothing, provide deeper insight into the daily life of the cave man.
Replicas of extinct animal species – cave bear and cave lion – are on display along the main canal of Risovača Cave, while the “Hall of the Risovača Man” contains a reconstruction of a Paleolithic family. The display of a family gathered around fire will transport you back thousands of years…
Due to its outstanding importance as an archaeological site of prehistoric culture, Risovača Cave is protected by law. Today, its deep canals are a museum of sorts dedicated to the Paleolithic period, bearing witness to the continuous human development from the dawn of civilization to the present day.
Info: Risovača Cave