A dataset comprising of the spatio-temporal dynamics of the diffusive spread of an agricultural package. The data is made up of radiocarbon data from 735 early Neolithic sites in Europe, the Near East and Anatolia.
“The Caloric Suitability Indices” (CSI) capture the variation in potential crop yield across the globe, as measured in calories per hectare per year. Moreover, in light of the expansion in the set of crops that are available for cultivation in the course of the Columbian Exchange, the CSI indices provide a distinct measure for caloric suitability for the pre-1500 and the post-1500 era.
The CSI indices provide four estimates of caloric suitability for each cell of size 5′× 5 in the world:
The maximum potential caloric yield attainable given the set of crops that are suitable for cultivation in the pre-1500 period.
The maximum potential caloric yield attainable, given the set of crops that are suitable for cultivation in the post-1500 period.
The average potential yields within each cell, attainable given the set of crops that are suitable for cultivation in the pre-1500 period.
The average potential yields within each cell, attainable given the set of crops that are suitable for cultivation in the post-1500 period.
The Caloric Suitability Indices (Galor and Özak, 2016) captures the potential agricultural output (measured in calories) based on crops that were available for cultivation in the Pre-1500CE and Post-1500CE eras. It is available for 5’ by 5’ grid cells and at the country level. The data can be used to assess or account for the exogenous effect of agricultural potential on various economic and social outcomes. The data can be used to assess or account for the exogenous effect of agricultural potential on various economic and social outcomes. An IPython notebook is included to show how it can be used and also compares it with another measure of agricultural suitability. The data is provided as a service to the academic research community (see license for permitted uses).
