Quaternary fish remains from the Ljubljansko barje and Krizna jama in the paleontological collections of the Slovenian Museum of Natural History

Fish certainly represent at least a small proportion of the diet of the people who lived in the central Slovenian territory in the past. This is proven by their skeletal remains from Pleistocene and Holocene (Quaternary) layers at several archaeological and paleontological sites. Very few publications deal with the Quaternary remains of fish, and even fewer also depict them visually and define them. In this article we aim to present finds that are stored in the paleontological collections of the Slovenian Museum of Natural History and come from sites in the Ljubljansko barje (Opekarna near Vrhnika, Breg near Skofljica, Dezmanova kolisca/Dezman pile-dwellings near Ig) and from the Krizna jama cave in the Notranjska region. Remains from Pleistocene clays near Vrhnika included bones of northern pike (Esox lucius). The Mesolithic site of Breg near Skofljica resulted in the remains of northern pike (Esox lucius), sheatfish (Silurus glanis), and zander (Sander lucioperca). From Copper and Bronze Age (Holocene) layers in the Ljubljansko barje (Dezman pile-dwellings at Ig) came remains of northern pike (Esox lucius). The most enigmatic are the remains of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) from Krizna jama, because it is an unusual site to find fish. They can probably be related to visits by people in the Bronze Age or even later periods.