What does the bell-distribution hide? Spatial behavior and demographic development of the Funnel Beaker culture populations in Bronocice region, Poland

Spatial archaeology usually links population estimates to settlement functions. Normal (Gaussian) or binomial distributions of a variable reflecting population values are used for groups of sites identified as seasonal occupations, hamlets, villages, centers etc. However, using this approach the demographic development remains hidden in bell-curves. To solve this issue we propose a research procedure that considers spatio-demographic development of the population. Application of this procedure to Funnel Beaker sites in the Bronocice region led to the identification of at least 7 sub-phases in the ‘classical’ period Bronocice 3 (BR II) and 4 (BR III) and could be increased to 8-9 sub-phases