A lot.
The facial reconstruction of a hunter-gatherer from Spain (somehow clean-shaven). Illustration by Serrulla y Sanín
It helps us understand how farming spread in Europe
Ancient farmers and hunter-gatherers living thousands of years ago in today’s Romania had sex, according to a new study. The finding adds to our understanding of how different groups of ancient humans interacted with each other — painting a more nuanced picture of how farming spread across Europe.
Researchers analyzed the ancient DNA of three individuals dated to over 8,000 years ago, as well as one individual dated to 5,000 years ago — all found in Romania. The DNA of the more recent specimen showed that farmers and hunter-gatherers in this area of Europe were intermixing with each other and having children. The study was published today in the journal Current Biology.
The advent of farming is one of the most revolutionary advances in human history. People began domesticating plants and animals, forever changing the world around them. Farming is believed to have started around 10,000 years ago in the Near East, an area roughly comprising today’s Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Turkey. From there, it spread across Europe — but when and how exactly people gave up hunting and gathering for farming has been at the center of long-standing debates.
Did farmers just spread across Europe, bringing the technology with them, and outcompete local hunter-gatherers? Or did hunter-gatherers get in contact with farmers, learn their technological advances, and switch to farming? Recent research shows that the answer is complicated, and how farming spread differs from place to place. Studies suggest that in Western and Central Europe, farmers from Anatolia (the Asian portion of Turkey) came in and replaced hunter-gatherer populations. But in the Baltic region, local hunter-gatherers seem to have just adopted farming, without being overtaken by farmers....
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On a bizarrely related note, yesterday I was asked "How did the Anatolian cows reach Europe?".
I ventured "swam the Bosphorus?"
Their Latin name is Bos Taurus, kinda rhymes.
Their Latin name is Bos Taurus, kinda rhymes.
It was all I had.
