Why was agriculture adopted in Europe?

What is it about?

Around 7,000 years ago, the first farmers in the western Mediterranean selected the most fertile land available, cultivated cereal varieties very similar to today’s, and made sparing use of domestic animal manure, as they do today. These are some of the elements that characterize the expansion of agriculture during the Neolithic period in Western Europe. The study reconstructs the environmental conditions, crop management practices and the characteristics of the plants that existed when agriculture appeared in Western Europe, and takes as a reference data on a large set of Neolithic sites from the beginnings of agriculture in the region. According to the conclusions, at the time of its appearance on the Iberian Peninsula, agriculture had already achieved a consolidated level in agricultural techniques for growing cereals, suggesting an evolution throughout its migration across Europe of the methods and genetic material originating from the fertile crescent, the cradle of the Neolithic revolution in the Middle East.

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Why is it important?

The study provides evidence on the reasons that helped the expansion of agriculture throughout Europe. It was not a response to climate change, but rather the perception by the new farmers that they could increase the food supply compared to the foraging populations. To this end, the farmers contributed agronomic knowledge and improved seeds during the process of the expansion of agriculture throughout Europe.

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