Modelling mobility and land use has always been a challenge to Palaeolithic archaeologists. The complex relationships between subsistence, culture and environment are continuously discussed and modeled individually, but seldom are all these concepts brought together in a comprehensive characterization of hunter-gatherer land use. As these are inherently spatial concepts, multiple GIS methods are available to simulate mobility and subsistence behaviour, but no step-by-step workflow has been developed to combine the results and paint a detailed picture of Palaeolithic land use systems. With this project, I present such a methodology, which concentrates on site pattern analysis and cost-distance modelling, starting from straightforward GIS-analyses and ending with clear-cut expectations for hunter-gatherer land use patterns. I then test the methodology with a case study from the Eastern Rif in Northeast Morocco, on archaeological datasets spanning from the Middle Palaeolithic into the hunter-gatherer societies of the Holocene, discussing data acquisition methods and their influence on the end results. Here, I demonstrate the reliability and reproducibility of the application of spatial techniques to Palaeolithic archaeology, as well as the impact land use changes had on the hunter-gatherer societies.

(Taylor Otto)

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