Paper short abstract:

The Mid-Pleistocene Revolution (MPR) affected the dispersal patterns of early European hominins. However, there is considerable discussion about how, when and why these dispersals took place. With agent-based modeling we provide a potential scenario for hominin dispersal patterns during the MPR.

Paper long abstract:

The Mid-Pleistocene Revolution (MPR) in Europe represented a period of drastic climatic changes promoting a faunal reconfiguration which took place between 1.2 to 0.6 Ma (Rodríguez et al., 2015). Moreover, these climatic changes affected the early hominins in Europe. It is commonly hypothesized that the early hominins dispersed from southern Europe into northern Europe during interglacial phases and retreated towards southern Europe during glacial phases. However, there is considerable debate about driving factors, timing, number and range of dispersal events involved (Kahlke et al., 2011; Madurell-Malapeira et al., 2015; Magri and Palombo, 2013; Palombo, 2014; Rodríguez et al., 2015).

The integration of diverse types of data and proxies is required to assess the dispersal capabilities of early hominin populations. In frame of the INQUA Modeling-MPR project 1403 we integrate environmental data in an agent-based modelling framework and simulate hominin dispersals performed by hominin agents interacting with a changing environment based on Europe during the MPR.

In spite of its simplicity, the agent-based model successfully reproduces the north-south dynamics of hominin dispersals during the MPR and therefore presents a potential dispersal scenario.

By explicitly simulating hominin dispersals we provide a multi-factorial picture of early hominin dispersals during the MPR. Our work has important implications for the development of future agent-based models which model early hominin dispersal. In general, it illustrates the effect of the selection of particular environmental factors, data quality and resolution on the simulation of early hominin dispersal patterns.