The Neolithic Hypothesis (Farmers)

[JoatSimeon at aol.com]

>X99Lynx at aol.com writes:

>That surge you're describing for LBK does not cover anything but a corridor
>that for some reason headed towards Holland (chocolate?).

-- it follows, quite closely, the distribution of light, fertile, easily
cleared loess (wind-deposited soils.  LBK agricultural methods were
specialized for that environment.

>For some time now, there's been strong evidence that "hunter-gatherers
>typically do less work for the same amount of food, are healthier, and are
>less prone to famine than primitive farmers (Lee & DeVore 1968, Cohen 1977,
>1989)

-- true but irrelevant.  Farming supports a much denser population than
hunting and gathering in the main areas of LBK settlement -- it was largely
confined to the interior of the continent, away from the seacoasts.

Therefore farmers can displace hunter-gatherers, usually without much effort.
The hunter-gatherers either have to adopt agriculture themselves, or be driven
off their ranges.

And the LBK farmers weren't IE speakers, in any case.