Past Distribution of the Red Deer (Cervus elaphus Linnaeus, 1758) (Cervidae, Mammalia) in Bulgaria

Paper presents for the first time summarized data on the past distribution of red deer in Bulgaria, based on 131 proven localities, most of being former human settlements. In the Pleistocene red deer's localities were distributed between 40 and 811 m a.s.l. and the majority of them (70.4 %) were located between 200 and 500 m a.s.l. In general, the great majority (86.2 %) of localities are situated up to 600 m a.s.l. The oldest Pleistocene record in Bulgaria came from the Würmian deposits of Mirizlivka and Kozarnika caves (45 000 – 26 000 BP). The red deer was much widely spread in the Quaternary (Paleolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Iron and Bronze Ages, Antiquity and the Midle Ages) than at present. In the Iron Age to Medieval Ages the species was recorded mainly in the mountain and hilly landscapes. It was more rarely spread in the lowlands and plains, both in the northern and the southern Bulgaria.