Ancient cave art combines geology, biology and archaeology. When talking about mammoths with Dr Floriane Recht during her visit at Vilnius University, an idea came up to invite her to the Nature Research Centre to make a presentation and share her research on cave paintings. Unfortunately, Floriane Recht had to return to France, so she could not come to the centre, but she prepared a special illustrated poster about her research (attached).

Floriane Recht studied prehistory and cave art at the University of Toulouse and wrote her PhD thesis on the geometric signs of the Niaux cave (see Figure 9 of the poster).

As we can see in the poster, some 500 drawings and carvings from Palaeolithic caves were analysed, and of all the animals depicted, about 10% were mammoths. The drawings were found in 47 sites, mostly in France, with only 5 mammoth drawings in Russia and 6 in Spain. The mammoth drawings are divided into two groups according to age: the old ones from about 40,000-20,000 BP and the new ones from about 20,000-16,000 BP.

The poster mentioned that the ancient painters also needed geological knowledge – how to find manganese oxide, hematite, limonite and other minerals to be used for drawing.

It is interesting to note that the age of the oldest mammoth that lived in Lithuania before the last glaciation is 52,000 years, and the age of the youngest mammoth is about 25,000 years, which corresponds to the age of the Paleolithic cave paintings, according to the data of Floriane Recht. The Vilnius mammoth appears to be the youngest, having lived in the postglacial period 13,800 years ago. Due to geological conditions, there are no caves in Lithuania (except for a few karst caves filled with water and unsuitable for human habitation), so there are no Lithuanian mammoth drawings.

Mammoth image, Baume-Latrone Cave (Gard, France)

Images of a mammoth and other animals, Rouffignac Cave (Dordogne, Périgord, France)

Link to the scientific article:

Satkūnas, J., Girininkas, A., Rimkus, T., Daugnora, L., Grigienė, A., Stančikaitė, M., Slah, G., Skuratovič, Ž., Uogintas, D., Žulkus, V., 2023. New 14C data of megafaunal remains from Lithuania – implications for the palaeoenvironmental interpretation of the Middle Weichselian. Geological Quarterly, 2023, 67: 3, doi: 10.7306/gq.1671. IF 1.576 / Q2 ECOLOGY.

 

Jonas Satkūnas, Laboratory of Climate and Water Research

Researchers from NRC Laboratory of Nuclear Geophysics and Radioecology, Prof. Dr habil. Jonas Mažeika, Dr Rimantas Petrošius, Dr Žana Skuratovič, Dr Olga Jefanova, and Dr Vitaliy Romanenko, presented a poster “CARBON-14 IN THE ENVIRONMENT NEAR THE BELARUSIAN NPP AND THE IGNALINA NPP IN 2016–2024” at the 25th Radiocarbon Conference in Krakow, Poland, held on 30 June – 4 July.

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The conference is the world’s premier forum for radiocarbon researchers, this time bringing together around 300 scientists from 30 countries and 5 continents. The conference featured 123 oral presentations and 169 poster presentations in 24 sessions, covering the latest C-14 recording techniques and a wide range of applications (https: //radiocarbon25.agh.edu.pl/en/program/).

On the occasion of the State Day (Coronation of King Mindaugas of Lithuania) and the National Anthem Day, on 6 July, the President of the Republic of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda, awarded 71 citizens of the Republic of Lithuania and of foreign countries with Lithuanian State Orders and Medals for their merits to Lithuania and for the promotion of the country’s name worldwide. In the White Hall of the Presidential Palace, the people of various professions and biographies were honoured: eminent cultural, educational and public figures, scientists, representatives of the military and other professions, as well as loyal friends of Lithuania abroad.

We are pleased to announce that Dr Habil. Gediminas Valkiūnas, Academician of Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, has been awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas, in recognition of his exceptional services to Lithuanian science, international academic activities, education of young scientists, and the promotion of Lithuanian science worldwide.

Our sincere congratulations and gratitude to Acad. Dr Habil. Gediminas Valkiūnas, Chief Researcher at Nature Research Centre, for his significant contribution to biological science and the strengthening of the country’s prestige!

 

From 23 June to 2 July, Dr Tomas Makaras, NRC Senior Researcher, participated in a traineeship at the Laboratory of Ecotoxicology and Biomonitoring of the Department of Physical Sciences, Earth and Environment, University of Siena, Italy. The scientist in collaboration with university researchers conducted research on animal behaviour and studied the behavioural responses of marine corals to microplastics and rare earth elements (REE) in water.

The research has generated a large volume of visual material that will be used for further behavioural analysis and publication. These data will help to assess the short- and long-term effects of these pollutants on the study organisms and their recovery potential after exposure, as well as to predict the adaptability of corals to changing environmental conditions in marine ecosystems.

The traineeship also contributed to the fostering of further scientific collaboration between Nature Research Centre and University of Siena. As a result of the traineeship, a joint project application is currently being prepared to be submitted to the Horizon Europe programme. The traineeship was funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation through the Italian Institute of Culture in Lithuania.

The Second SedaDNA Scientific Society Conference was held  in Tromsø on 23-26 June. The conference was attended by 184 participants from 28 countries, representing 90 institutions. A total of 61 oral presentations and 40 poster presentations were made. The event featured working group meetings and training workshops on bioinformatics, aeDNA Neotome DB presentation, nanospore sequencing, which showcased state-of-the-art tools for faster and simpler data analysis and processing and for eliminating the bottlenecks of working with data, bringing together leading experts to share insights and look for ways to improve the robustness and scalability of aeDNA analysis.

At the event, NRC researcher L. Gedminienė presented an oral presentation “Environmental dynamics of the southern Baltic Region: a plant sedaDNA and diatom sediment record”. The summary is included in the publication of the event: Laura, Gedminienė; Kathleen, Stoof-Leichsenring; Ulrike, Herzschuh. Environmental Dynamics of the Southern Baltic Region revealed by plant sedaDNA and Diatom. 2nd sedaDNA Scientific Society Conference 23rd-26th June, 2025, Tromsø, Norway. Books of abstracts. 131 pp.

The results of research presented at the conference are published in the Quaternary International journal and are available free of charge until 16 August:
🔗 Straipsnis Elsevier platformoje

On 17-18 June, the second annual COST Conference on Plant Microbiomes took place in Limassol, Cyprus, bringing together researchers from across Europe to discuss the latest research on plant and microorganism interactions, microbiome composition and plant diseases.

Researchers of the Laboratory of Genetics delivered the following poster presentations:

• Juliana Lukša-Žebelovič. Phytoplasma-driven shifts in the endophytic bacterial communities of European blueberry plants
• Iglė Vepštaitė-Monstavičė. Yeast as biocontrol agents: insights from killer phenotypes and volatile organic compounds production in rowanberry and rosehip ecosystems

You can read more about the conference at: https://micropbiomes.eu/events/annual-conferences/annual-conference-2025-cyprus/2nd-annual-conference

On 11-13 June, Dr Darya Dankina, palaeontologist at NRC Laboratory of Bedrock Geology, together with her colleagues from the COST Action “CA23124 – Social, Biological and Climatic Impacts of Salt Ages (SaltAges)” (https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA23124/), organized the first workshop on salinity reconstruction. The event took place in Tirana, the capital of Albania. (https://sites.google.com/view/saltages/home/meetings/wg1-salinity-reconstruction?authuser=0).

27 young and advanced professionals from different countries such as Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, etc. participated in the workshop.

The event was full of discussions and presentations divided into two main topics: palaeontological and geochemical proxies. In addition, along with intensive scientific programme, participants had a day trip to the following natural sites in Albania:

• Narta salt mines (Vlora region),
• Messinian evaporiteshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messinian_evaporite, Vlora region),
• Triassic evaporites in the Dumre karst area – an abandoned gypsum mine near Belsh.

The workshop was a success, with new contacts, ideas for future international projects and topics for future scientific publications.

On 2-8 June, Dr Laura Gedminienė, NRC researcher, participated in the 10th Non-Pollen Palynomorphs (NPP) Workshop in Göttingen, Germany. The researcher presented a poster on integrating pollen and non-pollen palynomorph analyses in medieval archaeological contexts.

During the workshop, various seminars and excursions were held to discuss the nomenclature and taxonomy of NPP. Dr L. Gedminienė participated in seminars on algae and Sordaria, in open microscopy sessions and excursions to laboratories, as well as geology and amber museums.

The event was an excellent opportunity for scientific exchange and community building, and the results achieved contributed to the standardisation and advancement of NPP research.

The NPP workshop, with its classical structure including oral and poster presentations, microscopy sessions and excursions, was combined with the COST-Action PalaeOpen workshop, which included an open discussion on the nomenclature of the NPP taxa and the start of the harmonisation of the NPP taxa in the Neotoma language and databases.

The 2027′ NPP workshop is planned to be organised at NRC.

The visit was funded by the COST-Action PalaeOpen project.

Prof. Sigitas Podėnas, Director of State Scientific Research Institute Nature Research Centre, participated in the first Lithuanian-Japanese Science Forum to promote scientific cooperation at Waseda University, Tokyo, on 10 June.
The forum brought together more than 100 experts of life sciences, biotechnology and high technology from both countries. Lithuanian scientists presented cutting-edge research results from Alzheimer’s disease to quantum physics.
President Gitanas Nausėda pointed out the importance of science diplomacy: “There is no other way to create a sustainable future for both our countries.”

This forum marks a new phase of cooperation, consolidating the partnership between Lithuania and Japan in advancing science.

More information is available at: Japonijoje vyko pirmasis Lietuvos–Japonijos mokslo forumas, skatinantis šalių mokslinį bendradarbiavimą – Lietuvos mokslo taryba

Photos by the Research Council of Lithuania

On 20 June at 10:00 a.m. we invite you to the conference “Diversity of indigenous plants: solutions for the creation of natural landscape elements and enhancement of biodiversity” at the Institute of Agriculture, Lithuanian Centre of Agrarian and Forestry Sciences (Instituto al. 1, Akademija, Kėdainių district municipality).  Programa

Registration: https://forms.gle/qmmB6cVYtSQ35mBB6