A recent study from Central Europe has changed our perception of the cat's domestication history. The authors discuss how this has led to the development of an interdisciplinary project combining palaeogenetics, zooarchaeology and radiocarbon dating, with the aim of providing insight into the domestic cat's expansion beyond the Mediterranean.

In the settlement strata dated to the 12th and 13th centuries, within three Byzantine border forts along the Serbian part of the Danubian region (Morava, Braničevo and Egeta), ritual bird offerings that preceded the erection of various buildings were archaeologically testified. Namely, whole ceramic vessels were placed upside down in pits and within them were the skeletal remains of chicken of various ages. Magic power of the ritual was additionally amplified by other offerings, such as iron knives and nails, while on one occasion small glass amorphous objects were likewise detected. Numerous similar examples of building deposits were detected all over Europe during the 12th and 13th centuries. Since mentioned rituals were tied to folk beliefs that, unlike the official religion, didn`t have strict norms, numerous variations occurred. For example, vessels were mainly placed upside down, but some were placed on their bottoms and covered with fragment of another ceramic vessel. Considering sacrificed animals, they were mostly hens and roosters, as well as gees and pond birds, sometimes eggs, pikes, dogs or cats, and the magic power was likewise amplified by diverse additional offerings. Practicing the said ritual was always tied to the turbulent times. It is interesting to notice that, on the central Balkans, there are no archaeological traces of this ritual during the period from the late 5th to the early 7th century. That was the time when firm church organization functioned in this area and Christian customs were strictly obeyed. The collapse of the Byzantine state at the beginning of the 7th century, as well as settling of new peoples, led to the abandonment of Christian customs or their arbitrary interpretation and implementation. Therefore, during the early medieval period on the territory of the Serbian part of the Danubian region, the sacrificing of animals when erecting the buildings offen occured. The re-establishing of the Byzantine rule on the central Balkans at the beginning of the 11th century led to the definite embedment of Christianity and abandonment of pagan elements in funerary practice. Still, during the turbulent 12th century, marked by intensive conflicts between Byzantium and Magyars in the Serbian part of the Danubian region, the practice of non-Christian rituals when burying of building deposits, occurred once again. Wishing to secure safety, peace and salvation during the times of crisis, the Christian community reached out not only for God`s intervention, but also for help of other „greater forces“. Although the character of folk beliefs and Christian norms of official church were, on the first sight, diametrically opposed, one should bear in mind the fact that during the Middle Ages folk belief wasn’t in complete contrast to the Christianity. Namely, pre-Christian and Christian elements were not two confronted sides, but they both shaped the beliefs within Christian communities. Considering the fact that in both cases the adherence to certain norms of behaviour is actually based on personal beliefs of each individual, the choice of what someone will believe in, is closely tied to challenges of that particular historical moment and to his/hers choice of rituals that he/she believes would provide help.

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This paper aims to provide insight into the etiology and differential diagnosis of a rare severe pathological lesion in an isolated equine tooth from the medieval site of Crkveno Brdo. The site is located in the southern part of the Carpathian Basin, that is, in the northern part of present‐day Serbia near Senta, some 9 km south‐west of the town center in the vicinity of the village of Gornji Breg. The specimen presented in this study comes from the cultural layer dated to the period between the 14th and the 15th centuries. A healed oblique fracture was present in the right upper second premolar (106) of a horse (Equus caballus) 7–10 years of age. The specimen was subjected to an interdisciplinary approach, including identification of species and tooth type, and assessment of age at death, employing microcomputed tomography (microCT), and histopathology to differentially diagnose the pathological condition. The obtained results were additionally compared with findings in an apparently similar modern case of known etiology.