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Neolithic transition in Europe: the radiocarbon record revisited

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Marina Gkiasta ,
Thembi Russell ,
Stephen Shennan  and
James Steele
Marina Gkiasta
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, 31–34 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PY, England.
Thembi Russell
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, England.
Stephen Shennan
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, 31–34 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PY, England.
James Steele
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, England.
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Abstract

Understanding the introduction of farming and the adoption of Neolithic culture continues to be a major research objective in Europe. The authors make use of a new database of radiocarbon dates from Mesolithic and Neolithic sites to map the transition. While the overall effect is still a diffusion into Europe from the south-east, detailed spatial analysis reveals fascinating local variations: in some places change was rapid, and one population replaced another, in others it was gradual and owed to incoming ideas rather than people.

Keywords

Origns of agricultureNeolithicgeneticsEurope
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 77 , Issue 295 , March 2003 , pp. 45 - 62
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2003

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