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Tracing the Origin and Spread of Agriculture in Europe
- Source :
- PLoS Biology, PLoS Biology, Vol 3, Iss 12, p e410 (2005), PLoS Biology, 2005, vol. 3, núm.12, p. e410, Articles publicats (D-F), DUGiDocs – Universitat de Girona, instname, Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya, Scopus-Elsevier
- Publication Year :
- 2005
- Publisher :
- Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2005.
-
Abstract
- The origins of early farming and its spread to Europe have been the subject of major interest for some time. The main controversy today is over the nature of the Neolithic transition in Europe: the extent to which the spread was, for the most part, indigenous and animated by imitation (cultural diffusion) or else was driven by an influx of dispersing populations (demic diffusion). We analyze the spatiotemporal dynamics of the transition using radiocarbon dates from 735 early Neolithic sites in Europe, the Near East, and Anatolia. We compute great-circle and shortest-path distances from each site to 35 possible agricultural centers of origin—ten are based on early sites in the Middle East and 25 are hypothetical locations set at 5° latitude/longitude intervals. We perform a linear fit of distance versus age (and vice versa) for each center. For certain centers, high correlation coefficients (R > 0.8) are obtained. This implies that a steady rate or speed is a good overall approximation for this historical development. The average rate of the Neolithic spread over Europe is 0.6–1.3 km/y (95% confidence interval). This is consistent with the prediction of demic diffusion (0.6–1.1 km/y). An interpolative map of correlation coefficients, obtained by using shortest-path distances, shows that the origins of agriculture were most likely to have occurred in the northern Levantine/Mesopotamian area.<br />An analysis of radiocarbon dates from early Neolithic sites reveals that agriculture in Europe most likely originated in the northern Levant and Mesopotamia and spread by population growth and migration, rather than by cultural diffusion.
- Subjects :
- 010506 paleontology
Diffusion (acoustics)
Time Factors
Agriculture -- Origin
QH301-705.5
Anàlisi espacial (Estadística)
Biology
Genetics/Genomics/Gene Therapy
01 natural sciences
General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Latitude
law.invention
03 medical and health sciences
law
Demic diffusion
Homo (Human)
Dendrochronology
Radiocarbon dating
Biology (General)
History, Ancient
030304 developmental biology
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
0303 health sciences
Correlació (Estadística)
Middle East
General Immunology and Microbiology
business.industry
General Neuroscience
Statistics
Agriculture
Europe
Agricultura -- Origen
Spatial analysis (Statistics)
Correlation (Statistics)
Other
Physical geography
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
business
Longitude
Research Article
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 15457885
- Volume :
- 3
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLoS Biology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....c693e0f9a77d7923ae9de71aa7238606
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0030410