Animal remains from the late prehistoric horizons from the sites of Nad Klepečkom and Rit

Tokom zaštitnih arheoloških istraživanja na lokalitetima Nad Klepečkom i Rit, uneposrednom okruženju antičkog Viminacijuma, iz celina, koje su datovane u period mlađe praistorije, ručno je sakupljan faunistički materijal. U radu su predstavljeni rezultati arheozoološkihistraživanja iz onih celina, koje su se mogle sa sigurnošću opredeliti u odgovarajuće epohemlađe praistorije, odnosno, materijal, koji ne potiče iz celina sa mešovitim materijalom.Iako je faunistički skup, koji je prikazan u radu izuzetno mali za razumevanje načina ekspolatacije životinja i njihovog značaja u naseljima iz epoha mlađe praistorije na pomenutim nalazištima, značajan je zbog činjenice da predstavlja do sada jedini poznat faunističkiuzorak iz perioda mlađe praistorije u Braničevskom okrugu i svakako je jedan od malobrojnih poznatih faunističkih zbirki iz perioda mlađe praistorije na prostoru današnje Srbije.In the course of salvage archaeological excavations at the sites of Nad Klepečkom and Rit, in the immediate vicinity of ancient Viminacium, animal remains from Late Prehistory deposits were collected by hand. A Late Eneolithic/Early Bronze Age settlement was discovered at the site of Rit, whereas the site of Nad Klepečkom showed signs of continuity from the Eneolithic to the Late Iron Age. Roman period settlements and necropolis were discovered at both sites, while a Late Medieval settlement was confirmed at the Nad Klepečkom site. Since these are multilayered sites where prehistoric layers have been largely disturbed by foundation digging of residential and other later period occupational deposits, and also bearing in mind that these deposits were often just partially researched due to the fact that these were salvage excavations, mixed period material was found together in a considerable number of features. Therefore, the results of the zooarchaeological analysis presented in this paper come only from those features which could be positively dated back to a certain prehistoric period, that is, mixed features were not taken into consideration. Although this faunal assemblage is of a modest volume and is insufficient for a more complete understanding of animal exploitation strategies and significance of animals in these late prehistoric settlements, it is significant since it is the only known faunal assemblage from the Late Prehistory in the Braničevo District, and is certainly one of the few known animal bone assemblages from the said period in today’s Serbia