Modelling the distribution of Pleistocene archaeological and palaeontological sites in Europe

Abstract

Our ability to model the distribution and dispersion of ancient organisms, including humans, depends on the nature and quality of the raw data available. All the information we have about the distribution of an extinct organism depends on the distribution of archaeo paleontological sites. Here we analyze and model the distribution of paleontological and archaeological sites in Europe along the Pleistocene. Our aim is to evaluate how the distribution of sites may influence our perception of the distribution of ancient organisms. We selected the Pleistocene sites recorded in the NQMDB (Neogene-Quaternary Mammals Database) located to the north of the parallel 36 N and between longitude -10.00 and 30.00. A total of 1379 fossil assemblages from 798 localities were analyzed. As it is widely known, the temporal distribution of sites is not homogeneous. Our sample includes 200 Early Pleistocene assemblages, 223 Middle Pleistocene assemblages and 956 Late Pleistocene assemblages. Thus, we divided the sample in several time periods and evaluated whether the spatial distribution of sites was different among them.