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Padina

Padina is a mesolithic site in the Iron Gates area.

Padina

A view of the Padina B habitations in Sector III of the Padina site. .
Photo: The Iron Gates Mesolithic, I. Radovanović

Text below is from 'Mesolithic Adaptations on the Lower Danube' by Beth Prinz, 1987:

Faunal remains from Padina are in some respects like those from Vlasac and Lepenski Vir. Several house floors at Padina have been described as having floors "covered by a heaped mass of fishbone" .3 to .4 meters thick (Jovanovic, 1969, 'Chronological Frames of the Iron Gate group of the early Neolithic Period in 'Archaeologica Iugoslavica X :p.29). The presence of bones of domesticated cow, sheep/goats, and pig (in addition to the unsurprising dog) in Padina A, the level which all archeologists agree is Mesolithic, may be explained by mixing of artifacts on this multi-component site, particularly because of the steep natural slope on which the site is located. The presence of domesticated pig in Padina A might also be interpreted as evidence of local domestication.

In Padina B, the level which some have argued is early Neolithic, others Mesolithic, it should be noted that the only well represented domesticate is the dog, while 80% of all bone is fish (Clason, 1980, 'Padina and Starcevo: Game, Fish and Cattle' Palaeohistoria, XXII, p.171). There is no obvious reason why recovery of fish remains at Padina should have been more efficient than at Vlasac and Lepenski Vir. There were no very small fish or mammals recovered at all. A faunal assemblage which is 80% fish, and where the most important mammal is red deer, does not indicate an economy based on food production, even if the small number of bones of domesticated cows, sheep/goats, and pigs really belong to Padina B, rather than representing "contamination" from higher levels of the site. The presence of these bones, and the small number of sherds also reported for Padina B, may indicate contact with neighboring food producers, but hardly justifies calling this occupation Neolithic. Whether the sherds and bone of domesticates 'belong' in Padina B is of importance in the chronological ordering of the Iron Gates sites, but does not change the interpretation of the primary economic orientation of Padina B. Since decreased importance of fish is typical of the earliest Neolithic sites compared to latest Mesolithic sites in the Gorge, the importance of fish remains at Padina B argues strongly for the interpretation of this site as a truly Mesolithic one.

Padina

Plan of the general situation of the site of Padina, with three sectores, showing the stone construction, ("N" Padiina A) , burials (black rectangles, padina A, Padina B) along the site axis, and the habitations (Padina B) .
Photo: The Iron Gates Mesolithic, I. Radovanović

padinasectorbhouse

Padina Sector B House. Note the "A" signs or supports. No one seems to know what their significance is.
Photo: The Iron Gates Mesolithic, I. Radovanović

Prehistoric Fauna from Padina

From:Clason, A.T. 1980, 'Padina and Starcevo: Game, Fish and Cattle' Palaeohistoria, XXII, p. 148

Domestic

Taxon	Common Name	Late Mesolithic	Early Neolithic
Bos tauros	cattle	7	21
Ovis/capra	sheep/goat	6	6
Sus domesticus	pig	12	5
Canis familiaris	dog	42	179

Wild

Erinaceus europaeus	hedgehog	-	1
Lepus capensis	brown hare	4	1
Castor fiber	beaver	37	10
Vulpes vulpes	fox	6	-
Canis/lupus	dog/wolf	-	3
Canis lupus	wolf	6	3
Martes martes	pine marten	3	2
Martes sp.	marten	3	4
Felix sylvestris	wild cat	4	4
Lynx lynx	lynx	2	2
Meles meles	badger	1	-
Ursus arctos	brown bear	30	15
Equus sp.	horse	1	-
Sus scrofa	pig	55	50
Sus sp.	pig	23	10
Capreolus capreolus	roe deer	37	10
Cervus elephus	red deer	763+114	263+50
Bos/cervus	-	41	12
Bos primigenius	aurochs	28	8
Bos sp.	-	17	8
Rupicapra rupicapra	chamois	3	20
Aves	birds	16	4
Emys orbicularis	European pond terrapin	1	1

Fish

Hucho hucho	Danube salmon	15	41
Acipenser sp./Huso huso	sturgeon	8	55
Siluris glanis	cat fish	201(24)	1298
Cyprinus carpio	carp	-	32
Cyprinidae	-	80	229
unidentified	-	63	620
Total		-------	------
		1653	2959

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This page last modified Monday 16 July 2007

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