Spatial patterns of Early Neolithic expansion in the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula, western Mediterranean: A landscape and environmental machine learning approach

• A dual Neolithic entry in north-east Iberia via maritime and trans -Pyrenean routes is likely. • RF machine learning reveals divergent patterns of Early Neolithic settlement. • Climate variables outweighed topography in driving Early Neolithic settlement. • Central coastal and Pyrenean zones concentrated most Early Neolithic landscapes. The expansion of Neolithic involved multiple dispersal routes and regionally differentiated trajectories shaped by environmental, topographic, and cultural fac