Currently available data on the Pleistocene human occupation of the westernmost territories of Iberia attest to the presence of Middle Palaeolithic industries from c. 240 ka cal bp until c. 37 ka cal bp. Previous studies focusing on this time frame have suggested that Middle Palaeolithic populations were highly mobile and predominately utilised locally available raw materials, with many cave and open-air sites being located near fluvial settings. Other than these observations, no specific studies have focused on exploring the factors influencing human site location choice during that time range. Employing statistical and GIS approaches, this paper provides an initial assessment of spatial patterning in human settlement during the Middle Palaeolithic of westernmost Iberia. Results show that site locations are biased towards lower elevations and riverine settings and suggest that distance to rivers might have impacted the diversity and specific types of lithic raw materials used at each site. These results help to shed light on the particularities of Neanderthal adaptations in a region regarded as a refugium during periods of unfavourable climate during the Middle Palaeolithic.

中文翻译：

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伊比利亚最西部旧石器时代中期人类聚落的空间格局

目前关于更新世人类占领伊比利亚最西部地区的可用数据证明了从c .开始存在旧石器时代中期工业。240 ka cal bp直到c。37 大卡bp。先前针对这一时间框架的研究表明，旧石器时代中期的人口流动性很强，主要利用当地可获得的原材料，许多洞穴和露天地点位于河流环境附近。除了这些观察之外，没有具体的研究集中在探索在那个时间范围内影响人类站点位置选择的因素。本文采用统计和 GIS 方法，对伊比利亚最西部旧石器时代中期人类住区的空间格局进行了初步评估。结果表明，场地位置偏向于低海拔和河流环境，并表明与河流的距离可能影响了每个场地使用的岩石原材料的多样性和特定类型。