People in Their Environment 63. Size estimations of sturgeons (Acipenseridae) from the Mesolithic-Neolithic Danube Gorges Ivana Živaljević, Igor V. Askeyev, Dilyara N. Shaymuratova (Galimova), Oleg V. Askeyev, Sergey P. Monakhov, Dušan Borić, and Sofja Stefanović The signifcant role of sturgeon fshing in the Mesolithic-Neolithic Danube Gorges has long been recognized, but the reconstruction of the sizes of individuals caught has been hindered by the lack of recent specimens from the Danube drainage in reference collections. This paper presents a method to reconstruct the total length from skeletal remains of several sturgeon species (Huso huso, Acipenser gueldenstaedtii, A. nudiventris, A. stellatus, and A. ruthenus) using linear and power regression equations, obtained from the database of biometric data of recent sturgeons from the Volga-Caspian Basin. The application of these regression equations to specimens from the Danube Gorge sites of Lepenski Vir, Padina, and Vlasac suggests that sturgeon fshing was oriented towards large adult individuals, with the largest specimens (in the case of beluga) surpassing 550 cm in total length. In addition to providing means for predicting body size of sturgeon specimens from archaeological contexts in areas where modern sturgeon stocks are diminished or completely extirpated, this study has important implications for investigating nutritional values, fshing techniques, and human-animal interrelationships in the Mesolithic-Neolithic Danube Gorges. Keywords: sturgeons, Acipenseridae, size estimation, Mesolithic-Neolithic, Danube Gorges Introduction Te signifcance of sturgeon (Acipenseridae) fshing in the Danube Gorges (north-central Balkans) in the Epipalae- olithic, Mesolithic, and Early Neolithic ( c. 13,000–5500 cal BC, cf. Bonsall 2008; Borić 2011) is manifested by con- siderable amount of sturgeon remains ( cf. Bartosiewicz et al. 2008; Bökönyi 1992; Borić 2003; Borić and Dimitrije- vić 2005; Brinkhuizen 1986; Clason 1980; Nalbant 1970; Păunescu 2000; Živaljević 2017) despite preservation bi- ases afecting their largely cartilaginous skeleton (Barto- siewicz et al. 2008; Brinkhuizen 1986). Te data obtained from stable isotope analysis of human bone collagen are in agreement with the consumption of protein derived from both freshwater and anadromous fsh (Bonsall et al. 1997; Borić et al. 2004), and the signifcance of sturgeons is further attested by some of the sculpted boulders from Lepenski Vir depicting elements of sturgeon anatomy (Bo- rić 2005; Radovanović 1997). Moreover, it has been sug- gested that the Upper Gorge sites of Padina, Lepenski Vir, and Vlasac (Fig. 63.1), occupied more or less continuously between c. 9500–5500 cal BC (corresponding to the Mes- olithic, Mesolithic-Neolithic Transformation phase, and the Neolithic, cf. Borić 2011; Borić and Dimitrijević 2009), had been settled as optimal spots for specialized whirlpool fshing. Teir location, as well as the location of the down- stream sites of Cuina Turcului, Icoana, and Schela Cladovei (Fig. 63.1) greatly overlap with the most favourable locali- ties for sturgeon fshing in more recent times (Borić 2003, 153; cf. Petrović 1998). Prior to the completion of the dams in 1971 and 1984, several sturgeon species were undertaking their bi-annual (spring and autumn) spawning migrations to the Danube from the Black Sea. Tese included the beluga (Huso huso, Linnaeus 1758), Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaed- tii, Brandt and Ratzeburg 1833), ship sturgeon (Acipenser nudiventris, Lovetsky 1828), and stellate sturgeon (Acipens- er stellatus, Pallas 1771). Remains of these species as well as those of freshwater sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus, Linnaeus 1758) have been identifed in the faunal assemblages from Lepenski Vir, Padina, and Vlasac (Borić 2003; Brinkhuizen 1986; Clason 1980; Dimitrijević et al. submitted; Živaljević 2017). Sturgeon remains had also been found at the sites of Cuina Turcului (Nalbant 1970), Icoana, Ostrovul Ban- ului (Păunescu 2000), Schela Cladovei (Bartosiewicz et al. 2008), and Knjepište (Bökönyi 1992) (Fig. 63.1). Sturgeons can reach an impressive size, which indicates that their economic role in prehistory of the Danube Gorg- es must have been signifcant. Most species of the genus