The Miocene of Northern Croatia (From Mud to Gold)

The Miocene of Northern Croatia (From Mud to Gold)

“The Miocene of Northern Croatia (From Mud to Gold)”
Exhibition Opening: Friday, 6 September 2019 at 7:00 PM

Exhibition Hall, Našice Local History Museum – Pejačević Castle

The exhibition “The Miocene of Northern Croatia (From Mud to Gold)” takes visitors on a journey through nearly 20 million years of geological history, revealing how the landscape of northern Croatia continuously transformed over time.

During the Early, Middle, and Late Miocene, the region was characterized by a wide variety of environments, including marine habitats, brackish and freshwater lakes, interconnected river systems, wetlands, and, less frequently, terrestrial landscapes. Much of present-day northern Croatia was once covered by the ancient Paratethys Sea and later by Pannonian Lake, where dynamic biological and sedimentary processes took place, occasionally accompanied by episodes of volcanic activity.

Evidence of these ancient environments is preserved within thick layers of Miocene sediments containing an extraordinary fossil record. These deposits preserve remains of bivalves, gastropods, foraminifera, ostracods, diatoms, silicoflagellates, algae, corals, sea urchins, crustaceans, fish, whales, sea cows, ancestral elephants and horses, pollen, spores, leaves, trunks and fruits of gymnosperms and angiosperms, insects, and many other organisms.

The exhibition also highlights ichnofossils—traces of biological activity such as burrows, tracks, and feeding marks—which provide valuable insights into the behaviour and lifestyles of organisms that inhabited Miocene ecosystems.

Through fossils, geological specimens, and environmental reconstructions, the exhibition tells the remarkable story of the natural history of northern Croatia and the rich diversity of life that flourished there millions of years ago, leaving behind a legacy preserved in stone.