Croatia’s Vindija Cave gets global spotlight

A scientific monograph on Vindija Cave, a key Paleolithic site regarded as one of the most significant in Europe, and the location where the encounter between Neanderthals and modern humans was confirmed, was presented at the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU) in Zagreb.

The book "Vindija Cave -A Late Neanderthal Site in Northern Croatia", published by FF Press in the English language, is a large-format volume of 164 pages authored by five co-authors: Fred H. Smith, Ivor Karavanić, Ivor Janković, Jadranka Mauch Lenardić, and Siniša Radović. According to speakers, the book was produced with the encouragement and financial support of the US professor Fred H. Smith, CE Report quotes HINA.

The monograph addresses the history of research, stratigraphy, and chronology of the site, archaeological finds, fauna, and includes a dedicated chapter on human remains. Special emphasis is placed on the layers from the Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic periods, in which fossil remains of Neanderthals exhibiting anatomical features transitional to modern humans were discovered.

The volume is richly illustrated with drawings, photographs, and tables, and includes several site plans of the cave excavations as well as an appendix reviewing fieldwork.

A highly significant contribution to the study of human evolution

Fred H. Smith, speaking via video link, expressed his gratitude, saying that he owes the majority of his career to working in Croatia and the opportunities afforded to him by Croatian science. The professor from Illinois State University described the book on Vindija as the result of many years of planning, discussions, and research, and regarded it as a detailed summary of current knowledge about the site, its history, and the Neanderthal remains.

Smith added that Vindija was undoubtedly one of the most important and informative Neanderthal sites known to science.