The cave called "Babina Spilja" on the Adriatic island of Hvar was explored by archaeologists this summer and autumn when they found ceramic items and animal bones dating back to the early Neolithic period and a pebble with natural markings, which appears to have originated from the Mesolithic.

The discoveries are currently in Oxford for radiocarbon dating, archaeologist Marcel Buric has told Hina.

The results of that analysis will be completed in January 2022, and they will indicate whether or not people had existed on this Croatian island also before the early Neolithic.

The exploration was started based on the results of the doctoral thesis of researcher Alen Miletic who has studies the topography of prehistoric sites on the western side of Hvar.

Babina Spilja is at an altitude of 200 metres.

Buric said that researchers of Columbia University in the City of New York and of La Sapienza in Rome are included in the project of exploration of this site.