Macedonian archeologists unearthed a skeleton of a human dating from 7,000 BCE, suspected of being the oldest Neolithic inhabitant on the Balkans. The skeleton has been uncovered at the archeological site Grncarica, at the Stip's nearby village of Krupiste. "Having in mind that the settlement is one of the oldest on the Balkans, it is only normal to assume that the oldest man that lived on the Balkans is in question," said the archeologist Trajanka Jovcevska.
     The skeleton has been found in a position that is typical for the Neolithic burials. "The body was laid with the left side down in a contracted position with the knees reaching up to the head level and with the arms clenched," Jovcevska said. Although the archeologists are still not certain about its gender, they have already given it a name. "We named him Slave," Jovcevska explains. "When we dug out the skeleton we put it in a box. One of our colleagues noticed that there was an inscription 'Slave' on the box." The name is very common in Macedonia. The Neolithic skeleton was transported to Skopje for further anthropological analysis.
      Grncarica, the oldest Neolithic settlement in Macedonia, was discovered accidentally last year by a team of archeologists who are exploring the sites along the hydro-system Zletovica's pipeline.

Sources: Makfax (20 March 2008), Balkan Insight (21 March 2008)