project - Hescor

project

The Research Network Structure of HESCOR

The HESCOR project is structured around ten thematic Work Packages (WPs), each addressing a specific dimension of the coupled human–Earth system. These WPs explore topics ranging from climate modeling and cultural evolution to mathematical dispersal models and data-driven archaeological analyses. However, none of these elements alone can answer the project’s complex research questions.

The project’s strength lies in its interdisciplinary synthesis: collaboration and communication across disciplines are essential and actively practiced in daily research. Theoretical frameworks help establish a common language, while shared databases enable consistent and comparable analysis. Machine learning supports pattern recognition in cultural development, and feedback loops allow integration of environmental, societal, and symbolic dynamics. This interaction ensures historically grounded, nuanced models that reflect real-world complexity.

Ultimately, HESCOR is not just a collection of separate studies but a coordinated system in which empirical data, theoretical insights, and computational tools inform and refine each other continuously.

Work Package 1

HESCOR THEORY & FRAMEWORK

The first subproject of the HESCOR initiative focuses on advancing the theoretical, conceptual, and strategic aspects of Human and Earth System Coupled Research.

Work Package 2

HUMAN SYSTEM MODEL DEVELOPMENT & HUMAN LEARNING

This subproject in the HESCOR initiative is dedicated to integrating key terms from human system analyses into the broader context of human and Earth system coupling.

Work Package 3

HUMAN SYSTEM MODEL - EARTH SYSTEM MODEL COUPLING

This subproject within the HESCOR initiative centers on reconstructing paleoenvironmental and paleoclimate data from 45-15 ka BP using Earth System Modeling.

Work Package 4

PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS FOR DISPERSAL ON POPULATION NETWORKS

This project in the HESCOR initiative focuses on modeling human dispersal across population networks using partial differential equations (PDEs) and numerical simulations.

Work Package 5

GLOBAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL CULTURAL DATABASE

This project within the HESCOR initiative explores paleoclimate tipping points and their impact on cultural evolution.

Work Package 6

MACHINE LEARNING & CULTURE CLUSTERS

HESCOR WP6 focuses on cultural clustering and machine learning to study cultural evolution in the context of climate change.

Work Package 7

MULTIREGIONAL CULTURAL EVOLUTION IN AFRICA

This project aims to model multiregional scenarios of human culture evolution in Africa during the last 300 millennia against the backdrop of changing environmental conditions.

Work Package 8

EARLY EXPANSION & POPULATION DYNAMICS

This project focuses on modeling human expansion and population dynamics during the Palaeolithic and Neolithic periods, particularly examining the Out-of-Africa scenario and the spread of farming societies over Europe.

Work Package 9

ENVIRONMENTAL PERCEPTION THROUGH TIME

This project involves reviewing and analyzing research from various fields, including landscape archaeology, environmental history, anthropology, and literary studies, to understand how cultural perceptions have shaped human responses to past climatic changes.

Work Package 10