The Very Long-term Iberian Fish Database Archaeological Fish Occurrences within the Iberian Peninsula

Humans have inhabited the sea shores and rivers of the Iberian Peninsula for thousands of years, leaving behind numerous traces and a wide variety of fish remains. These findings provide valuable data for tracking changes in fish species distributions over time as well as identifying regional variations. While a large amount of information is available for the area, most of it is scattered throughout a variety of sources. This Data Descriptor introduces the Very Long-term Iberian Fish Database (VLT_IberianFISH), a comprehensive compilation of 94,204 fish remains from 441 samples across 225 archaeological sites throughout Iberia. The identified portion of the assemblages (NISP = 81,312) comprises identifications at the species, genus, family, and order or higher taxonomic levels. Spanning approximately 90,000 years - from the Middle Palaeolithic to the 19th century - the VLT_IberianFISH Database offers a resource for a range of disciplines concerned with aquatic environments, human occupancy and resource exploitation.