Archeology: Gazelles, antelopes, zebras and giraffes once galloped through Tikveš

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 Gazelles, antelopes, zebras, giraffes and exotic animals galloped through the Tikveš area in the past. This is shown by the paleontological study of life millions of years ago in the Negotino region.

A team of scientists discovered new fossil bone extractions. The Macedonian information service MIA was in the field these days and spoke to the experts from the natural science museums from Skopje and Sofia who carefully and lovingly explored the village of Dolni Disan.

The ancestors of today's African elephants and rhinos lived here

A few years ago, in the Negotino region were found claws or tusks of an elephant that lived in the Tikveš region millions of years ago and is currently the largest in Europe. Four years ago, fossil fragments of three-toed horses and goats were collected. In September of this year, milk teeth of a young elephant and other interesting finds were unearthed near Dolni Disan.

- Everything that has been excavated in this area so far shows that the ancestors of animals that are characteristic of Africa today lived in the wine-growing region of our country. These discoveries are expected to be part of a future special paleontological exhibition at the Negotino Museum, which will offer biology to tourists visiting the region in addition to wine tourism and archeology, history and ethnology. It would be a great attraction for tourists as there is worldwide interest in this type of tourism and museums with paleontological exhibits are visited. That this area is interesting and unexplored is shown by the fact that it has been included in the annual research programs of the Natural History Museum in Skopje for several years, says Biljana Garevska, master's degree in paleontology who works at the museum. She is the project manager supported by the Ministry of Culture.

Garevska reminded that this is a million year old Miocene fauna.

They are called pickermen fauna when there were lake basins and steppe fauna in the past, savannah fauna that is authentic to Africa today. We are talking about rhinos, elephants, giraffes and a fairly rich fauna. This means that these prehistoric animal species once lived here.

"These are the ancestors of today's elephants living in Africa, Asia, and the ancestors of today's rhinos," explains Garevska.

The discovered material traditionally has a detailed determination after which it will be published. Climate change is taking its toll. Through a paleontological exhibition in the Negotino Museum in the future, visitors will learn more about evolution and how changes have taken place on this soil.

- This fauna is in fact proof that the mainland was connected to Africa and that the fauna here functioned without any problems. However, due to the climatic conditions and the separation of the mainland, the fauna here has become extinct and still lives on the African mainland.

The excavated fauna is much older than human evolution, so no human artifacts have yet been found.

- This fauna that we are researching only shows us what the climate was like in the past. There was savanna life. There were lake basins near Skopje, in the Tikveš region, as in Veles, and life was mainly developed through water. The remains are usually always on the so-called first river terrace, they died there. The hypothesis for the extinction of these species is that they drowned due to unfavorable climatic conditions and lack of food, but also because of possible fires, to seek refuge in the water. Or maybe even floods. That is why we usually find these animals next to the water basins of that time, explains the young paleontologist categorically.

Remains of a young baby elephant found

With a lot of love and patience, they slowly dig with various tools, including excavators, hammers and what not. So they searched with a small brush in order to find out with a lot of excitement and anticipation what was hidden under the layers of earth on the hill.

- There is a great treasure trove of fossils here. For the same reason, our great interest in the site and the interest of our paleontologists from the Natural History Museum in Sofia arise. We are constantly discovering species that we already know. However, there are usually new species that need further identification. The challenge is great because we have previously found fragments of a species that is not new to world science but new to Macedonian science, specifically in its structure of the lower jaw. This is where the challenge becomes greater because there are many different species of fossil elephants in the same place, Garevska said.

Based on its existence, the age of the site can be determined.

"The latest discovery is currently a fossil mastodon youth, a young elephant, which is why we called him baby, a world rarity," she said.

Dolni Disan has long been in my heart

Professor Dr. Nikolaj Spasov from the National Natural History Museum of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Sofia, Bulgaria, said that he came to Dolni Disan for the first time 20 years ago.

- It was then when I visited the paleontological collection of the Natural History Museum of Macedonia for the first time. Then I saw that what Professor Risto Garevski had collected is extremely interesting for paleontological science. And not just for Macedonia, but for the world in general. We gradually began to work, worked for years, collected a collection and made a paleontological monograph. I am proud of this monograph. Because it describes unique things in the world of paleontology. From the time when the Balkans had a fauna that comes close to today's African savanna fauna. There are many fossil bones in this region. Dolni Disan is truly one of the richest paleontological sites in Macedonia and one of the richest in the Balkans in general. Whatever we find is extremely interesting. Like the present discovery, the deciduous teeth of an ancient mastodon, very little can be found and used to work on research into these species and genera. We hope that sooner or later we can find here significant discoveries of animals that preceded mankind. However, Dolni Disan has long been in my heart with the beautiful nature, the wonderful people we met hereg. I hope we will have such an interesting job in the years to come, said Spasov.

Dust like in the desert

Dolni Disan is seven kilometers from the city of Negotino (in the south of the country). An asphalt road leads there. The village is connected to Kavadarci by a dirt forest road, and the residents of Tikveš have long dreamed of paving this road in order to facilitate communication and the transport of agricultural products in the area.

The place where the researchers are working can be reached on foot two kilometers along an unpaved road covered with huge layers of dust. All around the famous vineyards of Disan, dotted with grapes. Marjan Nojkov and Vaso Tašev and their families are the locals who help researchers find places where there might be something interesting from a paleontological point of view.

Garevska thanked them and the other villagers for working with the museum and especially for their reports because, as she pointed out, this is the only way to protect the national natural treasure.

- In the vicinity of Dolni Disan is the largest place, a treasury of this fauna. Fossils of five species of mastodons, the forerunners of today's elephants, have been discovered. More than ten million years old. The fossils I find are most common in clay soils because the clay is impermeable and the bone in these clay fossils hardens over time. In the spring or autumn months there is a lot of rain, heavy rain. These rains sometimes erode the earth in places, revealing parts of these underground fossils. These fossil finds are of great importance to the scientific world and put our country at the top of the paleontological map in Europe and the world. So far I have found several sites in the Zmijovec area. Every time I find fossils, I report them to the museum. They come, then dig them up and they take it further research, Nojkov said.

Love of paleontology unherited from her grandfather

Garevska inherited her love for paleontology from her grandfather, who was a palaeontologist and professor at the Faculty of Mining and Geology in Štip.

- As long as I can remember, I listened to him like everyone else with admiration, he talked about the profession with great love. He knew how to say in a vivid and attractive way that anyone would fall in love with science. When I signed up for a biology degree at the Faculty of Science and Mathematics in Skopje, I started working with him in this field, she explained.

SOURCE: MIA (Macedonian), translated by Makedonien.mk

DEUTSCH:  Archäologie: Gazellen, Antilopen, Zebras, Giraffen galoppierten einst durch Tikveš

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