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Which routes did farming take from the Middle East into Europe?
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Origins of agriculture
Harvesting wheat on a farm in the grain belt near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. A potash mine appears in the distant background.
The spread of farming from the Middle East into Europe occurred through two primary routes, involving a complex mix of migration and the diffusion of ideas among indigenous populations.12
- The Northern Route: Innovations in agriculture moved northward from the Middle East across Turkey and into Greece. From there, farming practices expanded into the Balkans and across central Europe, notably carried by the LBK culture, which favored the region's fertile loess soils.132
- The Mediterranean Route: Agriculture also spread westward along the Mediterranean coast. This route utilized maritime travel to reach southern Europe, including Italy and eventually Spain, as well as North Africa.132
The adoption of these practices was neither uniform nor rapid. While some areas experienced direct colonization by agriculturalists, others saw indigenous Mesolithic groups gradually integrate farming and livestock into their existing hunting-and-gathering economies. This transition took several millennia to reach northern regions, such as Britain and Scandinavia.321