Large mammal guilds at the time of the first human colonization of Europe: The case of the Italian Pleistocene record

The climatic events of the Pleistocene affected the physical and/or biotic environment and are reflected by changes in the fauna and flora richness and diversity. This strongly influenced the earliest human peopling - or lack of it - all over the middle latitudes of Eurasia, including Italy, on which focuses our analysis. Faunal turnovers, both at the Plio/Pleistocene boundary, and later on, between ca. 1 and 0.6 Ma, influenced human dispersal. There is so far no evidence in Italy of any colonization before 1 Ma, when mighty predators such as Pachycrocuta brevirostris and Lycaon falconeri were active, and a sparse and controversial archaeological record from 1 to 0.65 Ma. We suggest that a favourable temporal window opened during the early Middle Pleistocene, when the renovated Galerian faunas were characterized by few large predators, and by increasing numbers of middle-sized herbivores. Furthermore, biomass was possibly higher. After 0.65 Ma, the archaeological record of Italy includes well-dated sites, which yielded ample evidence of human activity. After palaeontological and archaeological evidence, starting from the early Middle Pleistocene, human groups successfully competed with modern carnivores, possibly occupying a niche that only partially overlapped with that of other predators. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved