Term Project (Draft) Farmers in Europe 5000 BC The inhabitants of Europe lived in ancient times on fishing and hunting animals. In the Neolithic era, they raised animals and they worked in the agriculture field. Thus, human appeared in Europe in the late Stone Age. They were hunters and collectors of food and tools. They left traces of 25,000 to 10,000 years old in about 200 caves around Europe, mostly in Spain and France. In the Neolithic period, Europe began to practice agriculture to replace it with hunting. During the sixth millennium BC, agriculture has spread widely in Europe and it becomes the main work or job of the people from that time until the modern era. In this paper, I will focus on people in Europe before 5000 BC. I will focus on how the people were in the past and how they managed to live in the circumstances of the great changes that took place during that period. How was their lifestyle at that time as farmers or people who lived nearby farms, and how that affects their lives? In the past people who were in Europe survived the changes by adopting Agriculture, basically they started breeding of animals and cultivation of land plants, the reason as to why they opted to engage in agriculture is because they were interested in providing food for their own use, good sources of fiber, the were also interests in producing plants which they could use for medicinal purposes. Examples of plants which were used for medicinal purposes comprised of basil, chamomile and Echinacea. The other products which were produced were just meant to sustain as well as enhance life (Lohrberg, 2016). Agriculture played a major role in the development which resulted to the rise of sedentary human civilization, this happened because production of domesticated species which were purposely meant to create food surpluses which mainly enabled people to live in various cities in Europe. In the era when people stopped hunting and started farming, they gathered wild grains began to plant them, before they became domesticated. After hunting came to en end people started rearing domestic animals which comprised of; sheep, cattle and Pigs, most of the crops originated from at least twelve regions of the world. In this era Industrial agriculture was mainly based on large-scale monoculture and it later dominated agricultural output, this still happens regardless of the fact the most people across the world still depend on subsistence agriculture (Lohrberg, 2016). Adoption of agriculture played a major in the lives of the people of Europe. First it led to production of enough food which could be used by people who were living in the rural and urban areas. It took a short time and the farmers started producing food products in large quantities, this was very crucial as it helped in provision of food for most of the people in Europe. Agriculture became the main source of livelihood for most of the people in Europe. There are several rea.

1. Term Project (Draft)
Farmers in Europe 5000 BC
The inhabitants of Europe lived in ancient times on fishing and
hunting animals. In the Neolithic era, they raised animals and
they worked in the agriculture field. Thus, human appeared in
Europe in the late Stone Age. They were hunters and collectors
of food and tools. They left traces of 25,000 to 10,000 years old
in about 200 caves around Europe, mostly in Spain and France.
In the Neolithic period, Europe began to practice agriculture to
replace it with hunting. During the sixth millennium BC,
agriculture has spread widely in Europe and it becomes the main
work or job of the people from that time until the modern era.
In this paper, I will focus on people in Europe before 5000 BC.
I will focus on how the people were in the past and how they
managed to live in the circumstances of the great changes that
took place during that period. How was their lifestyle at that
time as farmers or people who lived nearby farms, and how that
affects their lives?
In the past people who were in Europe survived the
changes by adopting Agriculture, basically they started breeding
of animals and cultivation of land plants, the reason as to why
they opted to engage in agriculture is because they were
interested in providing food for their own use, good sources of
fiber, the were also interests in producing plants which they
could use for medicinal purposes. Examples of plants which
were used for medicinal purposes comprised of basil,
chamomile and Echinacea. The other products which were
produced were just meant to sustain as well as enhance life
(Lohrberg, 2016).
Agriculture played a major role in the development which
resulted to the rise of sedentary human civilization, this
happened because production of domesticated species which
were purposely meant to create food surpluses which mainly

2. enabled people to live in various cities in Europe. In the era
when people stopped hunting and started farming, they gathered
wild grains began to plant them, before they became
domesticated. After hunting came to en end people started
rearing domestic animals which comprised of; sheep, cattle and
Pigs, most of the crops originated from at least twelve regions
of the world. In this era Industrial agriculture was mainly based
on large-scale monoculture and it later dominated agricultural
output, this still happens regardless of the fact the most people
across the world still depend on subsistence agriculture
(Lohrberg, 2016).
Adoption of agriculture played a major in the lives of the
people of Europe. First it led to production of enough food
which could be used by people who were living in the rural and
urban areas. It took a short time and the farmers started
producing food products in large quantities, this was very
crucial as it helped in provision of food for most of the people
in Europe. Agriculture became the main source of livelihood for
most of the people in Europe. There are several reasons as to
why people opted to go for agriculture, I will briefly describe
the reasons as to why people had to stop hunting and opt for
agriculture. Various researches show that approximately 80 %
of the people who lived in that era directly relied on agriculture
as a source of living. The reason as to why dependence on
agriculture was so high was as a result of due to none
development of non-agricultural activities which were capable
of absorbing the population which had started to grow at very
fast rate (Knudsen, 2012).
The second reason as to why people started producing
agricultural products is because they were interested in
producing fodder for their livestock, this was as result of
conversion most of the land into production of crops hence
making it hard to produce enough food stuffs for their animals.
Agricultural activities helped in provision of fodder for
domestic animals. The domestic animals which were reared for
instance, Cows provided the farmers with milk and meat. Most

3. of the livestock which were reared helped the farmers meet the
food requirements. Another reason as to why people opted to
go for agriculture is because the farmers were interested in
production of raw materials, agriculture became the main source
of main source of raw materials to most of the industries. For
instance agriculture led to production of jute fabric and cotton
which were raw material for most of the industries. Agricultural
activities also led to production of sugar and tobacco which
were raw material for some of the industries.
Agriculture also led to production of non-edible and
edible oils also which were raw material for some industries. In
addition, to this many more industries, for instance the
processing of fruits and rice husking and vegetables rice relied
on raw material mainly from agriculture. The last reason as to
why people opted to go for agriculture and abandon hunting is
because agriculture provided employment opportunities to most
of the people as compared to hunting, people who had large
tracts of land hired people to work on their farms, this helped in
provision creation of employment to most of the people and
that’s why people had to stop hunting and start farming
(Neumeister, 2004).
After this change people realized that there was need to
have food security, this was as a result of the fact that hunting
was no longer practiced and it could not provide enough for the
population. Having the need to ensure that there is food
security, people had to adapt agriculture, a stable agricultural
sector was very vital to ensure that the nation and enough food
security. The main necessity of any nation is food security.
Food security helps in prevention of malnourishment which is
one of the main problems. Reliance on agricultural products is
usually associated industries for their main source of income
(Neumeister, 2004).
In that era, there was need to have an economic
development hence people had change from hunting to
agriculture. Bearing the fact that agriculture provides
employment for many people it greatly contributes to

4. development of the economy of a nation and that’s why Europe
had to go for agriculture rather than hunting. There was need to
have a national income level and the people’s standard of living
improved, therefore there was need to adapt agriculture. The
increased rate of development in the agricultural sector
provided increased motivation for development and progressive
outlook. Adaption of agriculture helped to create good
atmosphere for the overall economic development of Europe.
There are several reasons as to why agriculture was
successful in Europe, first availability of land played a major
role in the success of agriculture in Europe. The second reason
as to why agriculture was successful is because of availability
of labor force, people were willing to work in the farms and
hence it became easy to for agriculture to be carried out. The
success of agriculture in Europe is also attributed to availability
of tools and fertilizers and some chemicals which were used to
control pests. The major agricultural products which were
produced in Europe were grouped into various categories
comprising of; fibers, foods and raw materials. The classes of
foods produced comprised of fruits, vegetables, oils, fuels and
fibers (Sanders, 2015).
There are several forms of agriculture which were practiced
in Europe. The first form of agriculture which was practiced
was mixed farming which mainly entailed agricultural
production of crops and livestock in the same farm. This form
of agriculture was mainly practiced in the areas which had
fertile soils and areas which had rough terrain. Another form of
farming which actually originated from Europe and was
practiced in this era is dairy farming, this form of farming was
successful due to temperate climate and close proximity to the
market (Sanders, 2015).
Agriculture had a great impact on the people who lived near
the farms. It led to improvement in the living standards of the
people, this is because it led to creation of job opportunities,
with employment people were able to get food and also cater for
the other need and hence this led to an improvement of their

5. living standards. Another impact of the people who lived near
the farms is that they were able to get enough food to support
their families and hence developing in financial as well the
economic aspect.
The development of Agriculture in ancient period in
Europe was as a result of need of man to change diet from
various foods through hunting and gathering. This raised the
curiosity of mankind to start involving actively in agriculture so
that they can meet their food requirements (Gronenborn, 2018).
Farming in Europe was accompanied by great changes in
cultural changes, biological changes and farming methods that
were invented during the ancient period. Farming was greatly
experienced from northwestern Anatolia and spread to East
during the first half of seventh millennium BC and finally
reached Carpathian Basin in 6000 BC.Nagy-Alfold a lowland
that is connected to the Mediterranean .Great Hungarian Plain is
the major part that experienced great farming activities where is
perceived to be a region that spread agriculture to other parts of
Europe because it connected the western and Eastern parts of
the Europe . The western and eastern people met ant Great
Hungarian Plain where they exchanged the cultural and
technological skills that led to transition of farming me3thods
and production of variety of food substances.
In the ancient time the common cultivated crops in Europe
were barley, wheat and legumes and also domesticated animals
though they did not embrace complex and modern skills due low
technological take off during the prehistoric period. The
common animal domesticated were sheep, goats and lately
embraced cattle in the farming system. The people practiced
subsistence farming during this ancient period. They rarely
embraced wild resources like pigs until the time the demand of
food increased and also the population pressure in the potential
regions. In the Neolithic period people also utilized animal
products like bones to make ornaments and used animal skin as
clothing their main source of food were the grains. The
transition of late Neolithic to the Copper Age in the Great

6. Hungarian Plain embraced new changes in farming activity and
lead to spread of same culture of farming in the other parts of
the Europe where the people shifted from relying on crops alone
and embraced rearing of animal husbandry which were mainly
cattle and to some extend sheep and goat in the Middle Copper
Age.
The new methods of farming led to increased population and led
to profound changes and strategies. The crops and animals
http://genetics.med.harvard.edu/reichlab/Reich_Lab/Datasets_fil
es/nature14317.pdf
Bronze Age from 3300 BC was witnessed in Europe that led to
intensification of agriculture and civilization such as the
ancient Mediterranean and Western and Eastern Europe where
they constructed manorial system which later was transformed
to a bedrock of medieval agriculture.Agruiculture in the 5000
years ago was transformed by improved techniques and
diffusion of crop plants by
References:
Knudsen, I. H. (2012). New Lithuania in Old Hands: Effects and
Outcomes of EUropeanization in Rural Lithuania. London:
Anthem Press.
Lohrberg, F. (2016). Urban Agriculture Europe. Jovis.
Neumeister, L. (2004). Moving Towards Pesticide Reduction: ...
Realising Best Agricultural Practice in Central and Eastern
Europe. Pestizid-Aktions-Netzwerk e.V.
Sanders, I. (2015). Collectivization of Agriculture in Eastern
Europe.
Lemmen, C., & Gronenborn, D. (2018). The Diffusion of
Humans and Cultures in the Course of the Spread of Farming.
In Diffusive Spreading in Nature, Technology and Society (pp.

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https://arxiv.org/pdf/1702.06977.pdf
https://www.routledge.com/People-of-the-Earth-An-
Introduction-to-World-Prehistory-14th-Edition/Fagan-
Durrani/p/book/9780205966554