Renata Šoštarić

University of Zagreb · Department of Biology

Prapovijesni arheološki lokalitet Kaptol za sada je najznačajnije željeznodobno nalazište na području sjeverne Hrvatske te je i epomnimni lokalitet istoimene najjužnije skupine halštatskoga kulturnog kompleksa. Nekropola na položaju Čemernica istraživana je od 1965. do 1971. godine, kada je istraženo 14 tumula. Nakon toga u tri su navrata provedena...

Cereals were a significant part of the Roman diet, yet knowledge about their cultivation, distribution and consumption in certain regions is particularly lacking. In Europe, studies generally suggest that from the Iron Age to the Roman period there was a reduction in barley cultivation, an increase in spelt over emmer, a preference for free-threshi...

Peatlands in the Western Balkans are becoming rapidly reduced due to vegetation succession, further enhanced by climate change and abandonment of traditional land management practices. Currently, the peatlands of this region act as habitat islands embedded mainly in a forest landscape matrix. This allows them to host more forest and generalist spec...

The aim of this archaeobotanical and archaeological research is to expand knowledge about Roman diet and plant cultivation in Istria and to compare it with similar localities on the Eastern Adriatic coast. We have also tried to find some new information about maritime trade routes in the Mediterranean area in ancient times. Out of 27 samples collec...

The Iron Age site of Kaptol-Gradci belongs to the south-eastern periphery of the Hallstatt cultural complex, dominated primarily by the Kaptol cultural group, and encompasses a hillfort settlement and necropolis. During the investigation campaigns organized to date, 25 tumuli have been identified and 17 of them investigated. This paper presents the...

The western Palaearctic carabid beetle Agonum scitulum has been found at the fen in Mt Žumberak (NW Croatia). This second Croatian record represents the south westernmost distribution point for this rare species in Europe. Agonum scitulum is an extremely hygrophilous species, recorded on humid alkaline soil in the vicinity of the Jarak Stream, in t...

In order to determine the influence of recovery techniques with water (flotation and wet sieving) on carbonized plant remains, a certain amount of wheat, barley, millet, horsebean and lentil macrofossils from archaeological sites was taken and treated with water. Moist recovery was also applied to in-laboratory, artificially, charred barley, millet...

Phytolacca acinosa Roxb., an East Asian plant species naturalised in many parts of the European continent, has been recorded for the first time in Croatia in two anthropogenic habitats in Varaždin city (NW Croatia). This study reports the newly discovered localities and presents the characteristics of the new alien species in the flora of Croatia....

The Early Iron Age necropolis of Gradci is part of a complex archaeological site in the vicinity of the municipality of Kaptol, near Požega (Croatia). In 2007, tumulus 13 was excavated and, on the basis of a typological analysis of the artefacts discovered, dated to period Ha C2/D1. In 2010, tumulus 14 was explored. That one has been dated to Ha C2...

The Virovitica Kiskorija South site was a Roman village. In this paper archaeological, archaeobotanical, and archaeo-zoological finds are presented and interpreted, then compared with similar sites and information available from ancient sources. The site was divided into complexes that made a whole. The finds within each complex are presented and c...

Vegetation succession, drainage, and climate change are causes of peatland habitat loss in the Western Balkans. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) are one of the most ecologically important invertebrate taxa in terrestrial ecosystems. To explore whether, and to what extent, fen ant communities are specialized, we sampled an alkaline fen, adjacent habit...

This paper presents the results of the first extensive archaeobotanical research into a Bronze Age site in Croatia. The aim of the study was to reveal what plants were consumed (grown) at Kalnik-Igrišče (NW Croatia) in the Bronze Age and to realize if the plant diet of the local population differed from that of the inhabitants in neighboring countr...

During the vegetation seasons 2008 and 2009 the floristic composition of the grasslands of Opeka Arboretum was surveyed. In total, 276 plant taxa were found, and 223 taxa were recorded for the first time for the investigated area. The taxa were classified into 66 families, the Poaceae (10.51%), Asteraceae (6.52%) and Lamiaceae (6.16%) families appe...

Peatlands in Croatia are rare, small in size and isolated habitats. Due to the abandonment of traditional land-management practices, and particularly to the progressive vegetation succession, they are critically endangered. Caddisfly faunistics and ecology of peatlands in Croatia have never been studied. A total of seven caddisfly taxa were collect...

This study presents the results of floristic research into a flat fen along a part of the Jarak stream in Žumberak-Samoborsko gorje Nature Park. This fen belongs to order Caricetalia davallianae Br.-Bl. 1949, alliance Caricio davallianae Klika 1934, association Eriophoro latifolio-Caricetum panicae Horvat ex Trinajstić 2002. The area was researched...

Terrestrial isopods were studied in the Dubravica peat bog and surrounding forest in the northwestern Croatia. Sampling was conducted using pitfall traps over a two year period. Studied peat bog has a history of drastically decrease in area during the last five decades mainly due to the process of natural succession and changes in the water level....

In Croatia and the surrounding area, the genus Iris is represented with about 20 Alpine-Dinaric, Mediterranean and Pannonian taxa from the subgenera Iris and Limniris. We researched pollen morphology of all taxa by using scanning electron microscopy. All pollen grains are sulcate with few palynological features, which could have taxonomic importanc...

This study analyses the ecological and syntaxonomical characteristics of the Junipero sibiricae-Pinetum dalmaticae Domac (1956) 1965 association. This association is present only on higher altitudes of Biokovo Mountain situated on the eastern Adriatic coast. With its highest peak at an altitude of 1,762 m, Biokovo is one of the hotspots of plant en...

The finding of Glaucium corniculatum seed in archaeobotanical samples from Roman times on Veli Brijun Island and Zaton near Zadar, initiated detailed study of its phytogeography in Croatia. The study showed that all recorded appearances of this species can be considered ephemeral and that the species came to Croatia many times during the history.

The finding of Glaucium corniculatum seed in archaeobotanical samples from Roman times on Veli Brijun Island and Zaton near Zadar, initiated detailed study of its phytogeography in Croatia. The study showed that all recorded appearances of this species can be considered ephemeral and that the species came to Croatia many times during the history.

The archaeobotanical samples analysed derive from a well-preserved well dated to the Early Iron Age (Hallstatt) according to pottery found in the sampled layers and on a radiocarbon dating (720-520 cal B.C.) of the wooden construction of the well. Cultivated plants (Panicum miliaceum, Linum usitatissimum, Papaver somniferum and Camelina sativa) wer...

The archaeobotanical samples analysed derive from a well-preserved well dated to the Early Iron Age (Hallstatt) according to pottery found in the sampled layers and on a radiocarbon dating (720–520 cal B.C.) of the wooden construction of the well. Cultivated plants (Panicum miliaceum, Linum usitatissimum, Papaver somniferum and Camelina sativa) wer...

Archaeobotanical analysis has been used to reconstruct the nest and diet of a small rodent from the Classical period (first century b.c. to second century a.d.) and most probably from Greece. The nest was found in the hollow interior of a very valuable bronze statue of a young athlete, recovered from the waters of the Northern Adriatic and named th...

The archaeological sites near the village of Kaptol near Požega are among the most important complexes of the Hallstatt culture in this part of Europe. Tumulus 1, situated at the eastern edge of the necropolis of the Kaptol-Gradci site was excavated during 2001 and 2002. The tumulus was of regular shape with an average height of 1,5 and a diameter...

Festuca illyrica MARKGR.-DANNENB. has been considered as a commonly spread species in Dinaric area, to which Istria belongs. The precise analysis of the species descriptions and the determination key, as well as field work have showed that there are no clear borders between this species and other members of F. valesiaca agg. Herbarium material coll...

Mount Medvednica (northwestern Croatia), mostly consisting of slates and marls, rises to the north, above the Croatian capital of Zagreb, from 300 to 1,035 m a.s.l. A floristic research was carried out in the area of Medvednica Nature Park, which consists mainly of the western part of the mountain. On the whole, 1,352 taxa of vascular plants were r...

A comparative archaeobotanical analysis of the plant remains from the Early Roman incineration graves in Ilok and Sćitarjevo shows the existence of a complex burial ritual, but at the same time enables a better understanding of the agriculture and trade of the 1st/early 2nd century AD in southern Pannonia. Most of the cereals found (Hordeum vulgare...

Taxonomy of the genus Quercus L. is very complicated and often controversial because of its great variability and intense gene flow among the related species. The purpose of this research was to determine morphological and molecular variation, relationships and taxonomic status of the Croatian populations of Quercus pubescens Willd. using morpholog...

A review of postglacial vegetation development in the coastal region of Croatia is based on a synthesis of previous and the most recent archaeobotanical research, including pollen analysis, and analysis of plant macro-fossils. Changes in vegetation through individual postglacial periods are shown systematically, particular attention being devoted t...

A review of the development of the vegetation in the inland area of Croatia includes the period of the Postglacial, and is based on a synthesis of previous archaeobotanical research, including pollen analysis, and analysis of plant macro-fossils. Changes in vegetation through individual postglacial periods are shown, particular attention being devo...

A review of the development of the vegetation in the inland area of Croatia includes the period of the Postglacial, and is based on a synthesis of previous archaeobotanical research, including pollen analysis, and analysis of plant macro-fossils. Changes in vegetation through individual postglacial periods are shown, particular attention being devo...

The high Danube bank near Ilok, which is situated on the western slopes of Fruška gora, was continuously settled in all prehistoric periods, and after that - as the finds analyzed herein indicate - in the Roman time, but Ilok experienced its peak in the Late Middle Ages, in the period of Nikola and his son Lovro. The beginning of excavations in Ilo...

The high Danube bank near Ilok, which is situated on the western slopes of Fruška gora, was continuously settled in all prehistoric periods, and after that - as the finds analyzed herein indicate - in the Roman time, but Ilok experienced its peak in the Late Middle Ages, in the period of Nikola and his son Lovro. The beginning of excavations in Ilo...

41 archaeobotanical samples were analysed, which had been collected from the seabed at uvula Verige (Verige bay) on the island of Veli Brijun, Croatia, the site of a Roman villa which was settled from the 1st to the 5th century A. D. From the analysis of plant macrofos-sils it is evident that the eu-Mediterranean evergreen woodland, today described...

In the area of Krapinske Toplice, 426 taxa of vascular plants have been registered. 392 plant taxa have been recorded for the first time. 34 taxa were registered earlier, but 20 of them have not been found again.