25 June 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Human history in one click: Database with 2,400 prehistoric sites

The role of culture in human spread: Digital data collection contains 150 years of research.

Human history in one click: For the first time, numerous sites relating to the early history of mankind from 3 million to 20,000 years ago can be accessed in a large-scale database.

Scientists from the research center ROCEEH (“The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans”) have compiled information on 2,400 prehistoric sites and 24,000 assemblages from more than 100 ancient cultures. The digital data collection is available for free to scientists and amateurs and was recently published in the journal PLoS ONE.

The research center is located at the University of Tübingen and the Senckenberg Society for Nature Research, sponsored by the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and funded in part through the Union of German Academies.

ROAD, the “ROCEEH Out of Africa Database”, represents one of the largest digital collections of information about archaeology, anthropology, paleontology and botany based on 150 years of research history, says Dr. Andrew Kandel, University of Tübingen. By joining information about cultural remains, human fossils, animal bones and plants into a unified geographical and chronological framework, the team created a tool that helps analyze the complex aspects of human evolution.

Map showing the distribution of African, Asian and European sites in ROAD. Examples of the different types of finds ROAD contains are shown clockwise from lower left: stone handaxe, grinding stone covered in red ochre, shell ornament, stone projectile point, bovid skull, pollen grain, human cranium, double bone point, and piece of orange ochre. (Objects not shown to scale) İmage: Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen
Map showing the distribution of African, Asian, and European sites in ROAD. Examples of the different types of finds ROAD contains are shown clockwise from lower left: stone handaxe, grinding stone covered in red ochre, shell ornament, stone projectile point, bovid skull, pollen grain, human cranium, double bone point, and piece of orange ochre. (Objects not shown to scale) İmage: Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen

Since 2008 an international team of six scientists and dozens of research assistants painstakingly compiled the data. More than 5,000 publications in multiple languages were analyzed, including Chinese, Russian, English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.

An easy-to-use map interface shows the distribution of sites across the globe. It also allows users to graphically present the results of simple queries, so a user can make their own map by selecting a specific culture, period or region of interest. In addition, a user can also download a PDF “ROAD Summary Data Sheet” containing a site summary.

“Scientists can use ROAD to formulate advanced queries”, says Kandel. “For example, a query can help establish the presence of different categories of stone tools across Africa, or the distribution of specific animals, like horse, rhinoceros or reindeer during periods when the glaciers advanced or retreated. Such queries provide researchers with large quantities of data which they can further study using various methods of visualization and analysis.”

ROCEEH designed ROAD to better understand the deep history of our human past. “We examine the multi-faceted relationship between culture and environment and observe its impact on human expansions.” In the spirit of open science, the team makes this data freely available to the general public, students, and researchers across the globe.

The collection of these data has already shown that much of the scientific knowledge about our past comes from just a few, very well-studied regions such as Southern and Eastern Africa and Europe, as well as Central and East Asia. However, Oceania was not part of the study. The blank spots hint at the expectation of exciting future discoveries about our species’ past from the fields of archaeology and anthropology.

Free Database ROAD: https://www.roceeh.uni-tuebingen.de/roadweb/

“The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans” (ROCEEH): www.roceeh.net

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289513

Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen

Cover İmage: The majority of the prehistoric world remains uncharted, as shown by the blank areas of this map. This visualization is based on a Kernel Density Estimate of assemblages in ROAD. Sites with higher densities of assemblages appear more intense in color. Oceania is not within ROAD’s scope. Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen

Related Articles

Archaeologists have found a mysterious prehistoric site, believed to be a 6,500-year-old Stone Age cemetery, near the Arctic Circle

4 December 2023

4 December 2023

Archaeologists have found a mysterious prehistoric site believed to be a 6,500-year-old Stone Age cemetery just 50 miles (80 kilometers)...

Analysis of 13,000-Year-Old Bones Reveals Violent Raids in Prehistoric ‘Jebel Sahaba’

28 May 2021

28 May 2021

Since its discovery in the 1960s, the 13-millennium-old Jebel Sahaba cemetery (Nile Valley, Sudan) has been regarded as one of...

Archaeological excavations started again after 50 years in Tunceli Tozkoparan mound

28 June 2021

28 June 2021

Archaeological excavations at the Tozkoparan Mound in Turkey’s Tunceli province are anticipated to turn the city into one of eastern...

Was the mystery of Noceto Vasca Votiva the water ritual?

13 June 2021

13 June 2021

The Noceto Vasca Votiva is a one-of-a-kind wood building discovered in 2005 on a tiny hill in northern Italy. The...

Earthquake Unearthed Lost Roman Odeon in Croatia

28 May 2025

28 May 2025

An extraordinary archaeological discovery emerged in Croatia after renovation work began on Sisak’s City Hall, damaged by a 6.4-magnitude earthquake...

Bom Jesus: The Oldest and Most Valuable Shipwreck Found in the Namibian Desert

20 March 2025

20 March 2025

In a remarkable archaeological discovery, the Bom Jesus (The Good Jesus), a Portuguese ship that sank over 500 years ago,...

A 2,000-year-old Roman sewage system has been discovered in western Turkey

19 September 2021

19 September 2021

The archaeological excavations carried out in the ancient city of Tripolis in the western province of Denizli’s Buldan district have...

A 2000-year-old bronze military diploma was discovered in Turkey’s Perre ancient city

2 January 2022

2 January 2022

During excavations in the ancient city of Perre, located in the southeastern Turkish province of Adiyaman, archaeologists uncovered a bronze...

Excavations show the Temple of Poseidon at Samikon is more Monumental than Previously Assumed -New Discoveries

3 November 2024

3 November 2024

New excavations by archaeologists from the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Greek Ministry of Culture in Kleidi-Samikon in the...

Rare gladiator tombs were discovered in the Ancient City of Anavarza in southern Türkiye

10 August 2022

10 August 2022

Archaeologists have discovered rare gladiator tombs in the ancient city of Anavarza, known as the “Invincible city” in history, which...

God Pan statue unearthed at Istanbul’s historical church of St. Polyeuctus

1 June 2023

1 June 2023

A Pan statue thought to belong to the Roman period was recovered during excavation works carried out by Istanbul Metropolitan...

8,000-year-old Yarmukian ‘Mother Goddess’ figurine discovered in Israel

9 July 2022

9 July 2022

An 8,000-year-old Yarmukian Mother Goddess figurine was found at Sha’ar HaGolan archaeological site, located on the northern bank of the...

A Roman statue unearthed on the site of St Polyeuctus’ church, which once Constantinople’s largest church

5 April 2023

5 April 2023

At Saraçhane Archaeology Park, where the Church of St. Polyeuctus is situated, excavation work by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) teams...

200 Feet to the Past: The Millennium-Old Mystery of the Himalayan Towers

8 May 2025

8 May 2025

In the remote and rugged landscapes of the Himalayas, a series of enigmatic structures known as the Himalayan Towers, or...

Ancient Yayoi Period Settlement Discovered on Tokyo Condo Development Site

10 December 2023

10 December 2023

Excavations at the former site of the British Embassy in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward have uncovered the remains of a Yayoi...