Mutual Climatic Range

'''Mutual Climatic Range''' ('''MCR''') is a method of determining the past climate at an archaeological site by examining the tolerances of a range of species found there. One method is to find the average temperatures in January and July by looking at the modern distribution of beetle species found on the site.<ref>{{cite book|first= Nick|last= Ashton |title=Early Humans |authorlink= |publisher=William Collins |location = London |year=2017|page=316 |edition= |isbn=978-0-00-815035-8 }}</ref> Another application is to look at the tolerances of plant species to determine 'summer warmth and dryness' and 'wetness and winter warmth'.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://jgs.geoscienceworld.org/content/156/2/381|title=A mutual climatic range method for reconstructing palaeoclimate from plant remains|journal=Journal of the Geological Society|date=1 March 1999|first1=J. J. |last1=Sinka|first2=T. C. |last2=Atkinson|volume=156 |issue=2 |page=381 |doi=10.1144/gsjgs.156.2.0381 |bibcode=1999JGSoc.156..381S |s2cid=129041578 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The technique was developed in the 1980s, and a newer one first published in 2009 which looks at geographical distribution is also sometimes called "mutual climatic range".<ref>{{cite journal|title=The mutual climatic range technique is (usually) not the area of sympatry technique when reconstructing paleoenvironments based on faunal remains|journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology|publisher=Elsevier|date=15 July 2016|first=R. Lee|last=Lyman|volume=454|doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.04.035|pages=75–81|bibcode=2016PPP...454...75L }}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Dating methodologies in archaeology