Archaeological evidence of Paleolithic settlements on the territory of present-day Serbia is scarce. A fragment of a hominid jaw found in Sićevo (Mala Balanica) is believed to be up to 525,000–397,000 years old.[20] Approximately 6,500 BC, during the Neolithic, the Starčevo and Vinča cultures existed in the region of modern-day Belgrade. They dominated much of Southeast Europe as well as parts of Central Europe and Anatolia. Several important archaeological sites from this era, including Lepenski Vir and Vinča-Belo Brdo, still exist near the Danube.[21][22] During the Iron Age, local tribes of Triballi, Dardani, and Autariatae were encountered by the Ancient Greeks during their cultural and political expansion into the region, from the 5th up to the 2nd century BC. The Celtic tribe of Scordisci settled throughout the area in the 3rd century BC. It formed a tribal state, building several fortifications, including their capital at Singidunum (present-day Belgrade) and Naissos (present-day Niš). The Romans conquered much of the territory in the 2nd century BC. In 167 BC, the Roman province of Illyricum was established; the remainder was conquered around 75 BC, forming the Roman province of Moesia Superior; the modern-day Srem region was conquered in 9 BC; and Bačka and Banat in 106 AD after the Dacian Wars. As a result of this, contemporary Serbia extends fully or partially over several former Roman provinces, including Moesia, Pannonia, Praevalitana, Dalmatia, Dacia, and Macedonia. Seventeen Roman Emperors were born in the area of modern-day Serbia, second only to contemporary Italy.[23] The most famous of these was Constantine the Great, the first Christian Emperor, who issued an edict ordering religious tolerance throughout the Empire. Remnants of the Felix Romuliana Imperial Palace, 298 AD, a UNESCO World Heritage Site; Some historians believe as many as 18 Roman emperors were born in modern-day Serbia[24][25] When the Roman Empire was divided in 395, most of Serbia remained under the Byzantine Empire, and its northwestern parts were included in the Western Roman Empire. By the 6th century, South Slavs migrated into the Byzantine territory in large numbers.[26] They merged with the local Romanised population that was gradually assimilated.[27][28][29] Middle Ages Main articles: Sorbs (tribe) and Serbia in the Middle Ages The Coronation of the tsar Stefan Dušan, known as Dušan the Mighty, in Skopje, as Emperor of Serbs and Greeks in 1346 White Serbs, an early Slavic tribe from White Serbia eventually settled in an area between the Sava river and the Dinaric Alps.[30][31][32] By the beginning of the 9th century, Serbia achieved a level of statehood.[33] Christianisation of Serbia was a gradual process, finalised by the middle of the 9th century.[34] In the mid-10th-century, the Serbian state experienced a fall. During the 11th and 12th century, Serbian state frequently fought with the neighbouring Byzantine Empire.[35] Between 1166 and 1371, Serbia was ruled by the Nemanjić dynasty, under whom the state was elevated to a kingdom in 1217,[36] and an empire in 1346,[37] under Stefan Dušan. The Serbian Orthodox Church was organised as an autocephalous archbishopric in 1219,[38] through the effort of Sava, the country's patron saint, and in 1346 it was raised to the Patriarchate. Monuments of the Nemanjić period survive in many monasteries (several being World Heritage sites) and fortifications. During these centuries the Serbian state (and influence) expanded significantly. The northern part (modern Vojvodina), was ruled by the Kingdom of Hungary. The period after 1371, known as the Fall of the Serbian Empire saw the once-powerful state fragmented into several principalities, culminating in the Battle of Kosovo (1389) against the rising Ottoman Empire.[39] By the end of the 14th century, the Turks had conquered and ruled the territories south of the Šar Mountains. The political stronghold of Serbia shifted northwards, when the capital of the newly established Serbian Despotate was transferred to Belgrade in 1403,[40] before moving to Smederevo in 1430.[41] The Despotate was then under the double vassalage of Hungary and the Ottoman Empire.[42] The fall of Smederevo on 20 June 1459, which marked the full conquest of the Serbian Despotate by the Ottomans, also symbolically signified the end of the Serbian state.[43] Ottoman and Habsburg rule Main articles: Ottoman Serbia and Great Migrations of the Serbs The Battle of Kosovo in 1389 is particularly important to Serbian history, tradition and national identity[44] In all Serbian lands conquered by the Ottomans, the native nobility was eliminated and the peasantry was enserfed to Ottoman rulers, while much of the clergy fled or were confined to the isolated monasteries. Under the Ottoman system, Serbs and Christians were considered an inferior class and subjected to heavy taxes, and a portion of the Serbian population experienced Islamisation. Many Serbs were recruited during the devshirme system, a form of slavery, in which boys from Balkan Christian families were forcibly converted to Islam and trained for infantry units of the Ottoman army known as the Janissaries.[45][46][47][48] The Serbian Patriarchate of Peć was extinguished in 1463,[49] but reestablished in 1557,[50][51][52] providing for limited continuation of Serbian cultural traditions within the Ottoman Empire, under the Millet system.[53][54] After the loss of statehood to the Ottoman Empire, S