Chapter 11
Mountain chains divided Europe during the glacial’s but during the interglacial’s
Mediterranean Europe and northern Europe were linked by phenomena such as
domestication.
Early post-glacial hunter gatherers along coasts and rivers, beside lakes and marshes.
7th millennium BC first farming communities appear in southeast Europe
4000 BC agriculture reaches the northern and western areas of Europe
After the ice Europe changed, the shape due to rising sea levels, different animal species
who were forest-adapted, change in vegetation > more forest.
More reliance on plant foods and marine/riverine resources
Site: Franchthi cave southern Greece; changing character of the shoreline illustrated by the
frequency of shellfish found
Biomass increased, resourced diversified population levels rose but settlements remained
small and mostly seasonal
North Sea covered lowland Maglemosian culture (communities of hunters, fishers and
foragers) sites: duvensee (hut floors of pine log/bark sheets). Star Carr (brushwood
platform, wooden paddle).
Northern/ eastern Europe; cemeteries suggest larger communities and more complex social
groups (sites: vasilievka III, skateholm & Vedbaek)
Farming; from the southeast first westward to Italy and Iberia, and northward through the
Balkans to central, western and northern Europe
Y chromosome pattern spatial trend from southeast to northwest mirrors general
spread of farming
Domestication; the “imported” domesticated species were followed by domestication of local
strains, the same for domesticated plants.
First farming settlements mainland Europe 6500 BC Thessaly in east-central Greece.
More settlements like these existed on fertile alluvial plains just like Thessaly and are
recognized by mounds or tells.
Spread of farming population levels reached critical threshold split of to nearest
available pocket of prime arable land. + drowning black sea basin
Mountain chains divided Europe during the glacial’s but during the interglacial’s
Mediterranean Europe and northern Europe were linked by phenomena such as
domestication.
Early post-glacial hunter gatherers along coasts and rivers, beside lakes and marshes.
7th millennium BC first farming communities appear in southeast Europe
4000 BC agriculture reaches the northern and western areas of Europe
After the ice Europe changed, the shape due to rising sea levels, different animal species
who were forest-adapted, change in vegetation > more forest.
More reliance on plant foods and marine/riverine resources
Site: Franchthi cave southern Greece; changing character of the shoreline illustrated by the
frequency of shellfish found
Biomass increased, resourced diversified population levels rose but settlements remained
small and mostly seasonal
North Sea covered lowland Maglemosian culture (communities of hunters, fishers and
foragers) sites: duvensee (hut floors of pine log/bark sheets). Star Carr (brushwood
platform, wooden paddle).
Northern/ eastern Europe; cemeteries suggest larger communities and more complex social
groups (sites: vasilievka III, skateholm & Vedbaek)
Farming; from the southeast first westward to Italy and Iberia, and northward through the
Balkans to central, western and northern Europe
Y chromosome pattern spatial trend from southeast to northwest mirrors general
spread of farming
Domestication; the “imported” domesticated species were followed by domestication of local
strains, the same for domesticated plants.
First farming settlements mainland Europe 6500 BC Thessaly in east-central Greece.
More settlements like these existed on fertile alluvial plains just like Thessaly and are
recognized by mounds or tells.
Spread of farming population levels reached critical threshold split of to nearest
available pocket of prime arable land. + drowning black sea basin
