diff --git a/spatialist/ancillary.py b/spatialist/ancillary.py
index 3f1a3e4..8aa39a4 100644
--- a/spatialist/ancillary.py
+++ b/spatialist/ancillary.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ##############################################################
 # core routines for software spatialist
-# John Truckenbrodt 2014-2020
+# John Truckenbrodt 2014-2020,2024
 ##############################################################
 """
 This script gathers central functions and classes for general applications
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 import zipfile as zf
 from typing import Iterable, List
 import numpy as np
+import progressbar as pb
 
 try:
     import pathos.multiprocessing as mp
@@ -115,6 +116,7 @@ def dissolve(inlist):
         out.extend(dissolve(i)) if isinstance(i, list) else out.append(i)
     return out
 
+
 def parent_dirs(path: str) -> Iterable[str]:
     """
     generator that yields parent directories of a zipfile path
@@ -153,7 +155,7 @@ def namelist_with_implicit_dirs(root: zf.ZipFile) -> List[str]:
     for file_name in root.namelist():
         complete_namelist.update(set(parent_dirs(file_name)))
         complete_namelist.add(file_name)
-
+    
     return list(complete_namelist)
 
 
@@ -257,7 +259,7 @@ def finder(target, matchlist, foldermode=0, regex=False, recursive=True):
         raise TypeError("parameter 'target' must be of type str or list")
 
 
-def multicore(function, cores, multiargs, **singleargs):
+def multicore(function, cores, multiargs, pbar=False, **singleargs):
     """
     wrapper for multicore process execution
 
@@ -271,6 +273,8 @@ def multicore(function, cores, multiargs, **singleargs):
     multiargs: dict
         a dictionary containing sub-function argument names as keys and lists of arguments to be
         distributed among the processes as values
+    pbar: bool
+        add a progress bar? Does not yet work on Windows.
     singleargs
         all remaining arguments which are invariant among the subprocesses
 
@@ -304,12 +308,8 @@ def multicore(function, cores, multiargs, **singleargs):
     tblib.pickling_support.install()
     
     # compare the function arguments with the multi and single arguments and raise errors if mismatches occur
-    if sys.version_info >= (3, 0):
-        check = inspect.getfullargspec(function)
-        varkw = check.varkw
-    else:
-        check = inspect.getargspec(function)
-        varkw = check.keywords
+    check = inspect.getfullargspec(function)
+    varkw = check.varkw
     
     if not check.varargs and not varkw:
         multiargs_check = [x for x in multiargs if x not in check.args]
@@ -364,24 +364,42 @@ def multicore(function, cores, multiargs, **singleargs):
             result = dill.load(tmp)
         return result
     else:
-        results = None
-        
         def wrapper(**kwargs):
             try:
-                return function(**kwargs)
+                # hide print messages in the sub-processes
+                with HiddenPrints():
+                    out = function(**kwargs)
+                return out
             except Exception as e:
                 return ExceptionWrapper(e)
         
-        # block printing of the executed function
-        with HiddenPrints():
-            # start pool of processes and do the work
-            try:
-                pool = mp.Pool(processes=cores)
-            except NameError:
-                raise ImportError("package 'pathos' could not be imported")
-            results = pool.imap(lambda x: wrapper(**x), processlist)
-            pool.close()
-            pool.join()
+        jobs = len(processlist)
+        progress = None
+        chunksize, remainder = divmod(jobs, cores * 4)
+        if remainder:
+            chunksize += 1
+        
+        if pbar:
+            widgets = [pb.Percentage(), pb.Bar(), pb.Timer(), ' ', pb.ETA()]
+            progress = pb.ProgressBar(max_value=jobs, widgets=widgets).start()
+        
+        try:
+            pool = mp.ProcessPool(processes=cores)
+        except NameError:
+            raise ImportError("package 'pathos' could not be imported")
+        results = pool.amap(lambda x: wrapper(**x), processlist)
+        while not results.ready():
+            left = results._number_left * chunksize
+            done = jobs - left if left <= jobs else 0
+            if pbar:
+                progress.update(done)
+        
+        results = results.get()
+        pool.close()
+        pool.join()
+        
+        if progress is not None:
+            progress.finish()
         
         i = 0
         out = []