The small mammal fauna from the palaeolithic site Marathousa 1 (Greece)

Abstract

The lacustrine deposits exposed at the Lower Palaeolithic site Marathousa 1 (Megalopolis, S. Greece) and intercalated between lignite Seam II and III yielded a collection of small vertebrate remains. The assemblage includes fish and small mammals; the mammal assemblage encompasses a variety of species, dominated by voles (arvicolids) of the genera Arvicola and Microtus. Other rodents are represented by a dipod cf. Alactaga and a murid of the genus Apodemus. In addition, there is a number of insectivore remains that refer to the family Soricidae, and more specifically to the genus Crocidura. The unrooted Arvicola molars show a positive'Mimomys' enamel differentiation with a mean SDQ value of 122, indicating a late Middle Pleistocene age (ca. 400 ka.) (MIS 12/11). The Marathousa 1 assemblage is clearly younger than the Choremi assemblages sampled ca. 20 years ago in the same basin. In the Choremi assemblage, Mimomys, the predecessor of the genus Arvicola, is the predominant arvicolid.

Lake-Level Changes and Their Paleo-Climatic Implications at the MIS12 Lower Paleolithic (Middle Pleistocene) Site Marathousa 1, Greece

“…Tourloukis et al (2018a) suggested two different intervals for the deposition of MAR-1, assigning the sequence between the base of UB9 and the top of UB2 to either the glacial Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 12 (480-420 ka) or to MIS14 (560-530 ka) based on a combination of magnetostratigraphy of the Marathousa member, chronostratigraphical correlations, and classical oxygen isotope variability by Lisiecki and Raymo (2005). The MIS12 option is the preferred model, because it also agrees with the pMET-pIRIR dating method by Jacobs et al (2018) from the same outcrop, as well as with the small mammal biochronology by Doukas et al (2018) (Table 2). (Blackwell et al, 2018) published ESR data from the upper part of the MAR-1 sequence correlated with UB2 and UB4, respectively.…”

“…It is located 60 m south of Area A and covers ∼78 m 2 at ∼350 m a.s.l. Both areas contain fossils of micro-and macro-fauna and flora such as hippos, elephants and rodents, as well as seeds, fruits, and charcoal (Doukas et al, 2018;Field et al, 2018;Konidaris et al, 2018;Michailidis et al, 2018). Karkanas et al (2018) subdivided the stratigraphy of MAR-1 into sedimentary units separated by an erosional contact into two major sequences, with the lower showing a coarsening upward and the upper a fining upward trend (Figure 3).…”

ESR Dating Ungulate Teeth and Molluscs from the Paleolithic Site Marathousa 1, Megalopolis Basin, Greece

“…Although the bivalves' mean age cannot constrain AT39's potentially oldest mean age, AT39's standard ESR mean age does converge at an mean age of 654 ± 19 ka with an RU model at p = 8, which is a high p value given the tooth's A Σ values and its U concentrations. The maximum possible age for AT39 ranges from 705 ± 20 ka with p = 10 to 800 ± 25 ka at p = 20, both of which also seem unlikely given the associated fauna found at the site [7,18]. Moreover, finding teeth with p ≥ 10 at other sites is rare [19].…”

“…With p = 2, AT39's mean age correlates well with MIS 13c (Figure 8). unlikely given the associated fauna found at the site [7,18]. Moreover, finding teeth with p ≥ 10 at other sites is rare [19].…”

“…Overall, their section gave a sedimentation rate of 0.21 mm/year [7][8][9]. The high organic content in UA3-UB4 hints that it may correlate with their Layer F. At Marathousa 1, the large faunal assemblage indicates that the horizon with the elephant fossils and artefacts was likely deposited between 0.9 and 0.4 Ma [15], while the microfauna analyses indicate a Middle Pleistocene age [18].…”