Aristander
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Very interesting narrative of how farming and lactose tolerance allowed Middle Eastern Farmers to out populate and conquer Europe.
The link is to the English Language version from Der Spiegel.
I have included the first section of the article to give you an idea what is in the rest of the article.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,723310,00.html
The link is to the English Language version from Der Spiegel.
I have included the first section of the article to give you an idea what is in the rest of the article.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,723310,00.html
New research has revealed that agriculture came to Europe amid a wave of immigration from the Middle East during the Neolithic period. The newcomers won out over the locals because of their sophisticated culture, mastery of agriculture -- and their miracle food, milk.
Wedged in between dump trucks and excavators, archeologist Birgit Srock is drawing the outline of a 7,200-year-old posthole. A concrete mixing plant is visible on the horizon. She is here because, during the construction of a high-speed rail line between the German cities of Nuremberg and Berlin, workers happened upon a large Neolithic settlement in the Upper Franconia region of northern Bavaria.
The remains of more than 40 houses were unearthed, as well as skeletons, a spinning wheel, bulbous clay vessels, cows' teeth and broken sieves for cheese production -- a typical settlement of the so-called Linear Pottery culture (named after the patterns on their pottery).
This ancient culture provided us with the blessing of bread baking. At around 5300 BC, everyone in Central Europe was suddenly farming and raising livestock. The members of the Linear Pottery culture kept cows in wooden pens, used rubbing stones and harvested grain. Within less than 300 years, the sedentary lifestyle had spread to the Paris basin.
The reasons behind the rapid shift have long been a mystery. Was it an idea that spread through Central Europe at the time, or an entire people?
..... rest of the article at the link.