TY - BOOK ID - 32939088 TI - The first farmers of Europe : an evolutionary perspective AU - Shennan, Stephen AU - Cambridge University Press PY - 2018 SN - 9781108422925 1108422926 9781108435215 1108435211 9781108386029 1108397301 1108395260 1108386024 PB - Cambridge New York, NY Melbourne [etc.] Cambridge University Press DB - UniCat KW - Agriculture, Prehistoric KW - Agriculture, Prehistoric. KW - Neolithic period KW - Neolithic period. KW - Europe. KW - Agriculture, Prehistoric - Europe KW - Neolithic period - Europe KW - Prehistoric agriculture KW - Prehistoric peoples KW - Agriculture KW - Food UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:32939088 AB - Knowledge of the origin and spread of farming has been revolutionised in recent years by the application of new scientific techniques, especially the analysis of ancient DNA from human genomes. In this book, Stephen Shennan presents the latest research on the spread of farming by archaeologists, geneticists and other archaeological scientists. He shows that it resulted from a population expansion from present-day Turkey. Using ideas from the disciplines of human behavioural ecology and cultural evolution, he explains how this process took place. The expansion was not the result of 'population pressure' but of the opportunities for increased fertility by colonising new regions that farming offered. The knowledge and resources for the farming 'niche' were passed on from parents to their children. However, Shennan demonstrates that the demographic patterns associated with the spread of farming resulted in population booms and busts, not continuous expansion. ER -