The reading of absolute paleointensity by lava flows has been simulated by sampling the field intensities from dipole (extracted from sedimentary paleointensities) and non dipole (similar to the present field) components. Results show that specific features in the geomagnetic intensity cannot be reproduced unless a minimum of 10 flows per 100 ky have been emitted. However, this criteria does not guaranty the high quality of the record, which depends also on the temporal control. For cases where the volcanic activity is episodic, a minimum of 4 dated flows per 100 ky is suggested. The construction of a composite curve from volcanic paleointensity, intended as a type-curve of field intensity changes, requires a very large number of data in order to overcome the effects of non-dipole components, errors in ages, and variable sampling. The present volcanic database is far from having this resolution to perform this analysis for the last 800 ky. ¿ 1999 American Geophysical Union