INTRODUCTION TO QUATERNARY STUDIES IN ITALY: FROM ARDUINO TO THE FIRST HALF OF THE PAST CENTURY

A summary of the origin and development of Quaternary studies in Italy since the 18th to mid 20th century is presented, focussing on marine sediment stratigraphy, continental glacial deposits, vertebrate palaeontology, palaeobotany, and palaeoanthropology. The history of the Quaternary sciences in Italy is also figured in a timeline of main milestones. The presence in Italian Quaternary deposits of cold-water Atlantic immigrants, which currently inhabit boreal seas, was identified by Brocchi in 1814. Following the 18th International Geological Congress (IGC) (1948), there was a surge in interest in these species, resulting in the identification of numerous boreal species (foraminifera, ostracods, bivalves, and gastropods). Even in the second half of the twentieth century, considerable attention was paid to these "northern guests", their systematics, and taxonomic and biostratigraphic revisions, which contributed to defining the species that potentially have a chronological distribution and palaeoecological significance useful for defining Pleistocene marine geochronological stages. The marine sediments, well exposed in Southern Italy, Sicily and Sardinia, had an important role in the development of Quaternary stratigraphy since Lyell in 1833 introduced the "Newer Pliocene", later renamed Pleistocene. Several marine stages were defined in Italy, Sicilian by Doderlein in 1872, Calabrian by Gignoux in 1910, Tyrrhenian by Issel in 1914, Milazzian by Deperet in 1918 and other later on. A scientific debate on the Plio-Pleistocene boundary began at the 18th International Geological Congress (IGC) in London (1948) when it was established that it should be placed "at the horizon of the first indication of climatic deterioration in the Italian Neogene succession" on the base of changes in marine faunas. The continental deposits, today attributed to the Quaternary, were described and mapped as 'alluvial' and 'diluvial terrains' until the eighteen seventies. Glacigenic deposits were identified and described in Italy at the foot of the Western Alps by Martins and Gastaldi in 1850 and, in the following decade, at the foot of the Central and Eastern Alps by De Mortillet, Omboni and others. In the last decades of the 19th century, Taramelli, Sacco, and Cozzaglio, began to distinguish the evidence for more than one glaciation. Since the publication of Penck & Brückner's volumes in 1909, the four-glaciation scheme was generally adopted. The past presence of glaciers on the Apuan Alps and the Apennines was first recognised in the latest 19th century. Subsequently, over a hundred Pleistocene glaciers had been identified and attributed to the Würm glaciation. The palaeobotanical character of the Quaternary was first recognised by Reboul in 1833, as "characterized by animal and plant species similar to modern living ones at the same site". Latterly, Brongniart, Sternberg and Balsamo-Crivelli first classified plant macrofossils species, provided timelines and compared finds to the modern extant forms according to the Linnean system. By the end of the 19th century, it became clear that the assemblage of extinct and eradicated plant species in northern Italy gradually decreased through the Pliocene, the Quaternary interglacial and the postglacial periods (Sordelli). The excavating peats at the onset of the 20th century suggested that the macrofossil record could be organised on a robust stratigraphical basis. In 1931-1932, the introduction of palynology in Italy marked the initial development of microbotanical stratigraphy and its application to vegetation, climate history and interactions with prehistoric civilisations. Since the Renaissance, the remains of Quaternary terrestrial mammals have attracted the attention of collectors and scholars when the