Biogeography of Neandertals: The Southern Italian Middle Paleolithic

Summary

Most research on the Middle Paleolithic in southern Italy has focused on the region of Apulia. This research has been extensive and productive, and so it stands to reason that other less researched regions of southern Italy hold similar potential. This paper uses predictive niche modeling to identify Neandertal niche from site location and environmental variables in Apulia, and applies the modeled niche to under researched regions to predict locations of new Middle Paleolithic sites. The model will also be tested against locations of recent site discoveries in the regions, allowing a reflexive look at both where researchers choose to look for sites as well as the accuracy of the predictive models as derived from Apuila and applied elsewhere in southern Italy. Results will help call attention to the potential of the area while guiding future research.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage