Risovača Cave, one of the most significant prehistoric sites in Serbia.
Risovača Cave is located on the outskirts of Aranđelovac. The cave was discovered in 1950 during marble extraction, and since then it has become an important archaeological and tourist site.
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During the opening of a quarry on Risovača Hill in 1952, significant paleontological and archaeological finds were discovered, dating back between 50,000 and 35,000 years. Since the 1980s, the site has been open to visitors as a Natural Monument of the First Category and a cultural property of great importance — Risovača Cave.
In the Old Stone Age, which coincides with the last Ice Age on the planet, the cave was used as a shelter by animals. Remains of more than 20 species of cave-dwelling animals were found. Alongside those still existing today, such as bears and horses, fossil remains of extinct species were also discovered, including the woolly mammoth, steppe bison, rhinoceros, giant deer, and hyena. Even more important are the findings proving that the cave was also used as a shelter by early humans — gatherers and hunters — who mastered fire, buried their dead, and crafted specialized tools and weapons. The Risovača man, based on his characteristics, corresponds to the species Homo sapiens neanderthalensis.
Through the limestone rocks of Risovača, underground corridors branch out into chambers of remarkable beauty. On the ceilings and walls of these passages, rooms, and halls, water has created various forms of cave ornaments — stalactites, stalagmites, flowstones, corals, and decorations resembling flowers, grapes, or cauliflower.
Through long-term research of Risovača Cave, numerous fossilized bones and teeth of various animal species that lived on the steppes around Risovača during the last Ice Age have been discovered.
The found stone and bone tools confirm that Risovača Cave was a habitat for Neanderthal hunters during the Middle Paleolithic period. Due to its natural characteristics and cultural-historical significance, the cave has been declared a natural monument and a cultural asset of exceptional importance. Today, Risovača Cave is organized according to modern presentation principles and welcomes thousands of visitors from both the country and abroad each year.
Research on Risovača Cave in Aranđelovac, initiated in 1953 by the Archaeological Institute of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU) and the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade under the guidance of Professor Dr. Branko Gavela, continued with interruptions until 1976. In addition to archaeological research, speleological studies were organized from 1975 under the direction of Dr. Radenko Lazarević, a scientific advisor at the Institute for Forestry and Wood Industry in Belgrade.
These studies, with the involvement of associates from the Jovan Cvijić Geographical Institute, the Faculty of Geography in Belgrade, and a speleological group from Valjevo, were particularly intensified in the 1990s and continue to this day.
Through years of archaeological, paleontological, and speleological research in Risovača, a wealth of fossilized remains of Pleistocene fauna and material traces of Neanderthal hunters—stone and bone artifacts confirming the Paleolithic age of this site—have been uncovered.
Given its archaeological significance, paleontological richness, spatial dimensions, and substantial natural value, Risovača Cave was prepared for tourist visits and officially opened on September 19, 1987.
Excavation and clearing of secondary material uncovered a cave system extending 187.5 meters with an area of 703 square meters. Along the main cave corridor, polyester reconstructions of key representatives of Quaternary fauna—the cave bear and cave lion—have been placed, while in the so-called “Hall of the Risovača Man,” marking the end of the explored part of the cave, there is a figurative composition depicting a family of Risovača hunters.
Risovača has attracted the attention of many researchers: speleologists excavated and cleared the cave of sediment, revealing its corridors and halls; paleontologists analyzed hundreds of fossil remains of Ice Age animals; archaeologists studied stone and bone artifacts left behind by an extinct human species.
The age of the cave was determined by geologists, experts who study the development, composition, and structure of the Earth. The formation of Risovača Cave began in a period of Earth’s history known as the Cretaceous, which lasted from 144 to 65 million years ago.
The time periods into which geologists have divided Earth’s history help us to better understand the past. In each period, something significant occurred, either for the development of the planet itself or for the evolution of life. The largest periods in Earth’s history are called eras. These are: the Paleozoic, when the first vertebrates—fish, amphibians, and reptiles—appeared (from 542 to 251 million years ago); the Mesozoic, or the age of dinosaurs (from 251 to 65 million years ago); and the Cenozoic, or the age of mammals, during which humans emerged (from 65 million years ago to the present).
The Risovača man, like other Neanderthals, was about 160-170 cm tall. He had a robust physique and great physical strength. His head was characterized by a low, sloping forehead, rounded eye sockets with prominent brow ridges, massive jaws, a flat cranial vault, and a low occipital region. The brain volume of the Neanderthal was about 1,500 cubic centimeters, which matches the average skull volume of modern humans.
For tool-making, early humans primarily used flint, a very hard but brittle mineral that easily chipped upon impact. A piece of flint was shaped into the desired tool using the technique of flaking. The Risovača hunter crafted flint into spearheads of leaf-like or triangular shapes. Attached to poles, these tips served as spearheads for hunting animals.
In a similar way, he made scrapers used for processing leather. Bone tools were also found in Risovača, including an exceptional example of a dagger and an awl used for piercing and joining parts of garments made from leather and fur.
At the end of the Ice Age, changes in the environment were so frequent and intense that they led to the extinction of Neanderthals. However, the planet was not left without humans. For tens of thousands of years, another human species, *Homo sapiens sapiens*, lived alongside Neanderthals. This species survived all natural disasters and adapted more successfully to climate changes and new living conditions. Today’s humans are descendants of this species.
Today, we can confidently describe what a mammoth looked like, as “preserved” whole specimens of this giant herbivore have been found in the ice of Siberia. However, researchers are rarely so fortunate. Most often, they only discover parts of animal skeletons, individual bones, skulls, or teeth. When skeletal remains are found in sufficient numbers, paleontologists can create a reconstruction – a depiction of the extinct animal’s skeleton. Their assumptions about its appearance are based on comparisons with other related species and on the environmental characteristics of the area where the species once lived.
Unusual animals inhabited the grassy areas around Risovača Cave. Today, there is no bear species that can compare in size to the cave bear. Standing upright, male cave bears could reach up to 3.5 meters in height and weigh as much as 1,000 kilograms. The cave bear inhabited regions of Europe that did not have harshly cold but rather more temperate climates. Based on the structure of its teeth, scientists have concluded that it fed on plants. Cave bears often died a natural death during winter hibernation; this is suggested by the large quantities of teeth and all skeletal parts found in the cave deposits.
Herds of woolly mammoths also roamed the lands of Risovača, perhaps the most impressive Ice Age animals in appearance. The late Ice Age mammoth was as large as today’s elephant. Its body was covered with long, woolly hair, and a thick layer of subcutaneous fat protected it from the cold; the mammoth also stored fat reserves in a large hump on its back.
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