Modelling human presence and environmental dynamics during the Mid-Pleistocene Revolution: new approaches and tools

Abstract

Drastic changes, driven by variations in orbital forcing, occurred in the Earth's climate system around 1.0 Ma. As a consequence, a marked reorganization of the ecosystems took place in Europe between 1.2 and 0.6 Ma. Arrival of hominins to Western Eurasia occurred at this time or slightly earlier, and many questions related to their time and mode of arrival, their survival opportunities, their distribution across Europe and their cultural evolution, remain unsolved. We present here a research project supported by the INQUA Human and Biosphere Commission aimed to address the ecological and behavioural dynamics of hominin populations in Western Europe during the late Early and the early Middle Pleistocene. The project emphasises the use of formal modelling approaches to test specific hypotheses about the causal mechanisms promoting variation in the distribution and behaviour of those ancient human populations.