Journal
JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE
Volume 35, Issue 10, Pages 2797-2804Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2008.05.006
Keywords
neolithic; linearbandkeramik; agriculture; archaeobotany; cultural drift; simulation
Funding
- AHRC (UK)
- SSHRC (Canada)
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We document and quantity a significant reduction in crop diversity in the early central European Neolithic using a large multi-site database of archaeobotantical remains we compiled from published Neolithic sites across southwest Asia and Europe. Two hypotheses are proposed to account for the observed changes: one which claims that the different environmental conditions of central Europe selected for a different set of crop choices and strategies than in use in southeast and Mediterranean Europe: and a null hypothesis that explains the change as a drift Process associated with a small founding population that subsequently undergoes rapid expansion. Through an agent-based simulation model, we test the null hypothesis and demonstrate that the drop in diversity exceeds that predicted by a drift process. We conclude by re-evaluating the possible adaptive changes underlying crop use in early Neolithic Europe. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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