The Süttő 21 site is a fissure fill of the freshwater limestone of the Gazda quarry
in Süttő. The material was collected between 2017 and 2019, and the results are summarised
in this article, with a special focus on the small vertebrate fauna of the site and
its stratigraphic and paleoecological significance. The fissure fill can be placed
around the Early/Middle Pleistocene boundary (ca. 1.1 and 0.77 Ma). The paleoecological
analysis of the herpeto- and mammal fauna of the sequence indicates the proximity
of a permanent water body. The lower part of the sequence is dominated by open habitat
indicator taxa indicating a cool, dry climate. Towards the upper part of the sequence,
the climate remained cool, but became wetter, and the vegetation gradually changed
to forest-steppe/open forest. The fauna of the Süttő 21 site can be compared with
the material of sites that are of a similar age, thus revealing taxonomic and paleoecological
differences between different areas of the country. While a warm, dry climate and
open vegetation can be reconstructed in the Villány Hills around the Early/Middle
Pleistocene boundary, the Northern Hungarian areas had a cooler, wetter climate and
a slightly more closed (sparse forest, forest-steppe) vegetation during this period.