  The results of the SERP-E-184 experiment at the U-70 accelerator (IHEP,
Protvino) are presented. Interactions of the 70 GeV proton beam with C, Si and
Pb targets were studied to detect decays of charmed $D^0$, $\overline D^0$,
$D^+$, $D^-$ mesons and $\Lambda _c^+$ baryon near their production threshold.
Measurements of lifetimes and masses are shown a good agreement with PDG data.
The inclusive cross sections of charm production and their A-dependencies were
obtained. The yields of these particles are compared with the theoretical
predictions and the data of other experiments. The measured cross section of
the total open charm production ($\sigma _{\mathrm {tot}}(c\overline c)$ = 7.1
$\pm $ 2.3(stat) $\pm $1.4(syst) $\mu $b/nucleon) at the collision c.m. energy
$\sqrt {s}$ = 11.8 GeV is well above the QCD model predictions. The
contributions of different species of charmed particles to the total cross
section of the open charm production in proton-nucleus interactions vary with
energy.
