Evidence of late Gelasian dispersal of African fauna at Coste San Giacomo (Anagni Basin, central Italy): Early Pleistocene environments and the background of early human occupation in Europe

Since the late 70s, the Early Pleistocene (Gelasian) site of Coste San Giacomo (Anagni Basin, central Italy) has been known amongst palaeontologists for its diverse vertebrate fauna. During the last 5 years, new excavations and the drilling of a 46-m-deep core have provided novel pieces of information. Palaeomagnetic data, pollen and small vertebrates analyses are presented here for the first time and combined with the updated list of the large vertebrates and ostracod analysis in a multidisciplinary perspective. Large and small mammals, pollen and ostracod analyses have allowed an integrated palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the sedimentary sequence, depicting the evolution of the alluvial plain in the surrounding landscape. Moreover, magnetostratigraphy, pollen and small mammal biochronological data have confirmed the position of the Coste San Giacomo Faunal Unit, focusing the possible age of the mammal assemblage around 2.1 Ma, in a reversed phase before the base of the Olduvai chron. In particular, the occurrence of the large vole Mimomys pliocaenicus has important biochronological significance. The Coste San Giacomo site offers a unique opportunity to investigate the faunal and environmental changes that occurred in Mediterranean Europe during the Early Pleistocene, coinciding with major climatic changes at a global scale. The occurrence of taxa such as Hippopotamus sp. in the assemblage provides evidence of early dispersal events of African taxa prior to the early Homo diffusion into Europe.