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.[1] Another application is to look at the tolerances of plant species to determine 'summer warmth and dryness' and 'wetness and winter warmth'.[2]
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".[3]
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