An integrated paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the Early Pleistocene hominin-bearing site of Dursunlu (Türkiye)
Hernández Luján, Àngel (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)
Paclík, Václav (Masaryk University. Department of Geological Sciences)
Demirci, Elvan (Universitat de Barcelona. Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio))
Villa, Andrea (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)
Neubauer, Thomas A. (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Palaeontology & Geobiology)
Tuncer, Alaettin (Hacettepe University)
Ivanov, Martin (Masaryk University. Department of Geological Sciences)
Blanco Lapaz, Ángel (University of Tübingen. Institute for Archaeological Sciences)
Vega-Pagán, Kelly Ann (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)
Sanjuan, Josep (Universitat de Barcelona. Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio))

Date:	2025
Abstract:	The fossiliferous Dursunlu Lignite Quarry (DLQ) is highlighted prominently in the archeological and paleontological literature because of the study of Pleistocene fauna and lithic artifacts, being considered the oldest Paleolithic site in Türkiye. Although the fauna and flora assemblage from DLQ are reasonably well known, taxonomic studies devoted to some groups, such as ostracods, mollusks, reptiles, and amphibians, have never been carried out. Here, we describe, illustrate, and study the taxonomic composition and ecological implications of the unpublished material of said groups, together with the aquatic plants and fish, recovered from six samples taken from the palustrine and peat bog facies of the sedimentary sequence. In addition, the recovered charophytes and cyprinids refine our taxonomical knowledge of both aquatic plants and fish. Our results concur with previous paleoenvironmental inferences based on flora and fauna composition-with DLQ representing a very shallow eutrophic lake with a dense palustrine vegetation belt during the cold (glacial) stage of the late Early Pleistocene-as well as highlight the study of all available groups as pivotal for better understanding the paleolake biota. We further conclude that the wetland areas of Dursunlu and surrounding steppe areas appear to have been an excellent environment for sporadic settlement of hominins during the Early Pleistocene, given the availability of food resources and easy access to water.
Grants:	Generalitat de Catalunya 2019/BP-00154 Generalitat de Catalunya 2021/BP-00038 Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2020-113912GB-I00 Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2024-159218NB-I00 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2022/SGR-00349 Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2020-117289GB-I00 Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2020-117118GB-I00
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Dursunlu paleolake ; Günz glaciation ; Paleoecology ; Hominins sporadic settlement ; Central Anatolia
Published in:	Diversity, Vol. 17, Issue 9 (September 2025) , art. 631, ISSN 1424-2818

DOI: 10.3390/d17090631

31 p, 22.4 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles