Europe's First Farmers

Essays by leading specialists on a central issue of European history: the transition to farming.

T. Douglas Price (Edited by)

9780521665728, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 14 September 2000

412 pages, 15 b/w illus. 39 maps 5 tables
24.7 x 19.1 x 2.8 cm, 0.88 kg

"Well supplied with regional maps, lists of important radiocarbon dates, and a scattering of site plans and artifact illustrations" Choice April 2001

Plants and animals originally domesticated in the Near East arrived in Europe between 7000 and 4000 BC. Was the new technology introduced by migrants, or was it an 'inside job'? How were the new species adapted to European conditions? What were the immediate and long-term consequences of the transition from hunting and gathering to farming? These central questions in the prehistory of Europe are discussed here by leading specialists, drawing on scholarship in fields as diverse as genetics and IndoEuropean linguistics. Detailed studies document the differences between European regions, and fresh generalisations about the origins of European agriculture are also proposed and debated.

List of illustrations
List of tables
Preface
List of contributors
1. Europe's first farmers: an introduction T. Douglas Price
2. South-eastern Europe in the transition to agriculture in Europe: bridge, buffer or mosaic Ruth Tringham
3. Transition to agriculture in eastern Europe Marek Zvelebil and Malcolm Lillie
4. Cardial pottery and the agricultural transition in Mediterranean Europe William K. Barnett
5. Mesolithic and Neolithic interaction in southern France and northern Italy: new data and current hypotheses Didier Binder
6. From the Mesolithic to the Neolithic in the Iberian peninsula João Zilhão
7. The origins of agriculture in south-central Europe Michael Jochim
8. How agriculture came to north-central Europe Peter Bogucki
9. Getting back to basics: transitions to farming in Ireland and Britain Peter Woodman
10. The introduction of farming in northern Europe T. Douglas Price
11. Lessons in the transition to agriculture T. Douglas Price
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Prehistoric archaeology [HDDA]