Early Pleistocene

Subsistence strategies are a set of actions and measures chosen by hominins in a specific place and at
a specific time to obtain the means necessary to survive and reproduce as individuals and as a group.
Choosing successful actions and measures increases the group’s means of survival, which in turn gives
rise to an increase in population, thereby ensuring the continuity of the group. Some authors believe that
Early Pleistocene hominin settlements were marginal and discontinuous due to their lack of social
networks and cultural acquirements. However, the faunal remains recovered in the caves of Gran Dolina
(levels 3e4 and 6) and Sima del Elefante (levels 9e14) in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Spain) show that the
subsistence strategies of Early Pleistocene hominins in Europe were successful enough to allow hominin
groups to survive and reproduce in sufficient numbers. Therefore, these first humans would have the
ability to maintain a continuous occupation of Europe.

The Armenian highlands is a key region for the study of the earliest hominin dispersals outside of Africa. The paleoanthropological evidence from the site of Dmanisi shows that the area was first occupied ~ 1.8 Ma. However, Dmanisi is but a single site, and therefore little is known about the timing, duration and character of hominin occupation of the surrounding region. Ongoing research at several new Lower Paleolithic sites in cave and open-air contexts, in varied eco-geological areas in Armenia, will yield crucial data on the behavioral adaptations of the region's earliest hominin occupants.

A new cranial fossil attributable to the species Lynx pardinus (Temminck, 1827) attests to the presence of
this felid in the late Early Pleistocene of the Iberian Peninsula. Certain diagnostic features, such as the
confluence of the lacerum posterius and anterior condyloid foramina, and the long and lyre-shaped
temporal ridges, allow this find to be established as the first occurrence of the Iberian lynx in Europe.
The fossil described here was found in the Avenc Marcel cave (Vallirana, Barcelona, Spain) in association
with many other Late Villafranchian faunal remains. The combined presence of the bovid genera Capra
and Soergelia, and the rodent species Mimomys medasensis and Mimomys tornensis, allows the age of this
deposit to be placed at about 1.6-1.7 Ma. Consequently, the appearance of Lynx pardinus is related here to
the faunal turnover that occurred between the Middle and Late Villafranchian, considered to be one of
the major changes in the European macromammal fauna. Such an early divergence is in accordance with
the evolutionary split proposed by both the molecular data and with the glacial-interglacial dynamics
that affected the European region during the Early Pleistocene. Under these circumstances, the Iberian
lynx could have originated in isolation in the Iberian Peninsula (a recognized southern European refugium
for several species), during one or more glacial episodes. In this time period, this species may also
have developed a dependence on small-sized animal prey, such as the lagomorphs of the genus Prolagus
and Oryctolagus, already widespread throughout the Iberian Peninsula by that point.
In the present work, several topics regarding the earliest evolutionary history of Lynx pardinus are
discussed. Understanding the events that took place surrounding the origins of this lineage can shed new
light on the future conservation of this extremely threatened felid.

Barranc de la Boella is made up of several open-air late Early Pleistocene archeological sites (Pit 1, La Mina and El Forn) the formation of which is related to a deltaic sedimentary environment. Its age makes it a key site for studying the behavior of the early hominin groups of the Iberian Peninsula and western Europe and the ecological context in which they developed.
At La Mina locality, three archaeostratigraphic levels have been identified, with level 2 being the richest in terms of the archeological remains recovered. It exhibits high taxonomic diversity, with the most common taxa belonging to open and partially open habitats, although aquatic and riparian taxa have also been identified. Carnivore remains are present, although scarce. Coprolites from a hyaenid have also been found.
Both hominin and carnivore activity has been documented at the site. Evidence of carnivore activity suggests at least one bone-cracking carnivore had access to the assemblage. The anatomical ratios employed suggest that La Mina was formed at a time of high competition (intra and/or inter-specific), with a high number of predators in this ecological context. Anthropic activity in a highly competitive context might suggest that these hominin groups had a high degree of control over the environment and over local resources, as has been shown at other Early Pleistocene sites.

A first record of non-mammalian remains and small mammals from the Early Pleistocene of Monte Argentario (Central Italy) is reported herein, together with paleoecological and biochronological remarks based on the whole fossil assemblage. This site is known since the 1950s mostly for large mammal remains. So far, the known taxa collected from this site comprise mainly large mammals with few birds and reptiles. Recent fieldworks in this locality led to the recognition of a small mammal assemblage that consists of twelve taxa, including Talpa cf. T. fossilis, Sorex cf. S. minutus, Petenyia hungarica, Asoriculus gibberodon, Oryctolagus cf. O. valdarnensis, Eliomys cf. E. intermedius, Glis sackdillingensis, Microtus (Allophaiomys) cf. M. (A.) ruffoi, Victoriamys chalinei, Apodemus (Sylvaemus) sylvaticus, Apodemus (S.) flavicollis, Apodemus (S.) gr. sylvaticus-flavicollis, and Apodemus (Karstomys) gr. mystacinus-epimelas. An updated description of amphibians, squamates and birds is also provided. Following the chronological data derived from the large and small mammals, the vertebrate assemblage of Monte Argentario can be referred to the Early Pleistocene, Early Biharian, corresponding to the Farneta and Pirro Faunal Units of the Italian biochronological scheme. In addition, the data presented herein support the hypothesis of a biochronological equivalence of these two Italian Faunal Units.

The discovery of the Early Pleistocene sites of Bogatyri/Sinyaya Balka and Rodniki 1 on the Taman Peninsula in western Ciscaucasia led to the recognition of a distinctive “Tamanian industry”, with a timerange of 1.6e1.2 Ma, and with characteristics that are transitional between Oldowan and Acheulean (“Archaic Acheulean”). The site of Kermek was discovered by V.E. Shchelinsky in 2008 during investigation of the older Lower Pleistocene sediments exposed in the coastal cliff of the Sea of Azov in the vicinity of previously studied sites.
In this paper, we present preliminary data from a multidisciplinary study of the Early Pleistocene site of Kermek, situated near to the sites of Bogatyri/Sinyaya Balka and Rodniki 1, but which is significantly older. This site is connected with a well-studied Early Pleistocene (late Kujalnikian) fluviatile-shallow marine sequence. These reverse magnetized deposits are characterized by freshwater and brackish water mollusks (with Dreissena theodori), and by a small mammal fauna (with Allophaiomys deucalion), and are dated to the latest Gelasian or early Calabrian ca. 2.1e1.8 Ma. The lithic industry from the site can be attributed to the Classic Oldowan but with distinctive local features that include indications of “advanced technologies” such as the manufacture of large flakes and picks. In this respect, this industry is assumed to have been a genetic precursor of the later Early Pleistocene Tamanian industry, which has a well pronounced Acheulean component.

Suids are found in Europe before and during the Olduvai magnetostratigraphic subchron, including the Fonelas P-1 site in the Guadix Basin (Andalusia, Southern Spain, ~2.0 Ma), in which the remains have been ascribed to Potamochoerus magnus, and many other localities that record the presence of Sus strozzii (e.g., Saint Vallier and Sen
eze in France). However, there is no pig record in the biochronological range
comprised between the post Tasso Faunal Unit, which marks the base of the Late Villafranchian (~1.8 Ma), and their arrival in Western Europe at layer TE9 from Sima del Elefante, Atapuerca, Northern Spain (~1.2 Ma), where pigs are recorded under the name of Sus sp., and at the sites of Untermassfeld (Germany),
Vallonnet (France) and layer EVT12 of Vallparadís Estacio (Spain), dated 1.1e1.0 Ma (MIS31), which suid remains have been ascribed to Sus scrofa priscus in the first site and to Sus sp. in the other two. Later, the genus Sus is recorded everywhere in Europe as a ubiquitous member of the Epivillafranchian/Galerian and posterior faunas. When pigs are in an ecosystem, they use to be abundant in the large mammal community given their opportunistic feeding behavior and high reproductive success. Their short gestation periods and elevated offspring numbers allow them to colonize new and varied environments and territories faster than other ungulates, which use to display a K-reproductive strategy, with
a single pup per birth. For this reason, suids are usually preserved in the fossil assemblages after their dispersal and colonization of a geographic region. The arrival of suids phylogenetically related to Sus gr. scrofa into Europe marks the end of the Late Villafranchian and the beginning of the Epivillafranchian, which is approximately dated at ~1.2 Ma. Given that suids are omnivorous, generalist mammals with
bunodont teeth that do not tolerate very low temperatures, this suggests that their colonization of Europe can be related to a change in the ecosystems and climate. In addition, the arrival of suids postdates the earliest arrival of hominins into Western Europe, which is documented at the Orce sites of Barranco León-D and Fuente Nueva-3 (~1.5e1.2 Ma). In these sites, rich faunal assemblages, abundant lithic artifacts and one human tooth have been unearthed after more than twenty years of excavations, but no evidence of pigs has yet been detected.

Two new vertebrate fossiliferous localities from the Pleistocene of the Mygdonia Basin (Macedonia, Greece), Tsiotra Vryssi (TSR) and Platanochori-1 (PLN), are presented in this article. TSR belongs to the Gerakarou Formation and its preliminary faunal list includes the corvid Corvus pliocaenus, the hyaenid Pachycrocuta brevirostris, the canid Canis etruscus, the rhinoceros Stephanorhinus sp., two species of Equus, the bovid Bison sp., the cervid Metacervocerus rhenanus and the giraffid Palaeotragus sp. PLN belongs to the Platanochori Formation (overlying Gerakarou Formation) and its fauna includes the following taxa: Stephanorhinus hundsheimensis, Equus apolloniensis, Bison sp. and Pontoceros ambiguus. The preliminary comparison of these faunal assemblages with the already known localities from the Mygdonia Basin and the wider region, combined with the geological data, suggest a Late Villafranchian age for TSR, chronologically intermediate between the localities Gerakarou-1 and Apollonia-1, while the fauna from PLN is indicative of a Latest Villafranchian age, similar to that of Apollonia-1. These new localities will enhance our understanding of the crucial time period of the earliest dispersal of hominins into Europe.

The Melka Wakena archaeological site-complex is located at the eastern rift margin of the central sector of the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER), in south central Ethiopia. This wide, gently sloping rift shoulder, locally called the “Gadeb plain” is underlain by a succession of primary pyroclastic deposits and intercalated fluvial sediments as well as reworked volcaniclastic rocks, the top part of which is exposed by the Wabe River in the Melka Wakena area. Recent archaeological survey and excavations at this site revealed important paleoanthropological records. An integrated stratigraphic, petrological, and major and trace element geochemical study has been conducted to constrain the petrogenesis of the primary pyroclastic deposits and the depositional history of the sequence. The results revealed that the Melka Wakena pyroclastic deposits are a suite of mildly alkaline, rhyolitic pantellerites (ash falls, pumiceous ash falls and ignimbrites) and slightly dacitic ash flows. These rocks were deposited by episodic volcanic eruptions during early to middle Pleistocene from large calderas along the Wonji Fault Belt (WFB) in the central sector of the MER and from large silicic volcanic centers at the eastern rift shoulder. The rhyolitic ash falls, pumiceous ash falls and ignimbrites have been generated by fractional crystallization of a differentiating basaltic magma while the petrogenesis of the slightly dacitic ash flows involved some crustal contamination and assimilation during fractionation. Contemporaneous fluvial activities in the geomorphologically active Gadeb plain deposited overbank sedimentary sequences (archaeology bearing conglomerates and sands) along meandering river courses while a dense network of channels and streams have subsequently down-cut through the older volcanic and sedimentary sequences, redepositing the reworked volcaniclastic sediments further downstream.

Control of fire was a hallmark of developing human cognition and an essential technology for the colonisation of cooler latitudes. In Europe, the earliest evidence comes from recent work at the site of Cueva Negra del Estrecho del RIo Quípar in south-eastern Spain. Charred and calcined bone and thermally altered chert were recovered from a deep, 0.8-million-year-old sedimentary deposit. A combination of analyses indicated that these had been heated to 400–600ºC, compatible with burning. Inspection of the sediment and hydroxyapatite also suggests combustion and degradation of the bone. The results provide new insight into Early Palaeolithic use of fire and its significance for human evolution.

The spectacular diversity of sclerophyll plants in the Cape Floristic Region in South Africa and Australia’s Southwest Floristic Region has been attributed to either explosive radiation on infertile soils under fire-prone, summer-dry climates or sustained accretion of species under inferred stable climate regimes. However, the very poor fossil record of these regions has made these ideas difficult to test. Here, we reconstruct ecological-scale plant species richness from an exceptionally well-preserved fossil flora. We show that a hyperdiverse sclerophyll flora existed under high-rainfall, summer- wet climates in the Early Pleistocene in southeastern Australia. The sclerophyll flora of this region must, therefore, have suffered subsequent extinctions to result in its current relatively low diversity. This regional loss of sclerophyll diversity occurred at the same time as a loss of rainforest diversity and cannot be explained by ecological substitution of species of one ecological type by another type. We show that sclerophyll hyperdiversity has developed in distinctly non-Mediterranean climates, and this diversity is, therefore, more likely a response to long-term climate stability. Climate stability may have both reduced the intensity of extinctions associated with the Pleistocene climate cycles and promoted the accumulation of species richness by encouraging genetic divergence between pop-lations and discouraging plant dispersal.

This paper describes associated proboscidean remains found in the left bank of the Vedea River, northwest of Brebina (Teleorman County). The specimens include an almost complete mandible, bearing second and third molars, three thoracic vertebrae, two large fragments of the sacrum, and part of the pelvis. Tooth morphology and measured parameters confidently assign the mandible to the southern mammoth, Mammuthus meridionalis. Molar measurements are similar to those of other specimens found in the Dacian Basin, but it is not clear if the specimen from Brebina represents a derived, geologically younger, form of the species, or not. Tooth eruption and wear stage indicate the Brebina mammoth died between 29 and 34±2 years old. The incomplete mandible and fragmentary pelvis do not allow gender assessment for the mammoth found at Brebina