Bones and seeds: an integrated approach to understanding the spread of farming across the western Balkans.

Abstract

The western Balkans is a key area for understanding early farming in prehistoric Europe, as it encompasses, in close but distinct geographic spaces, the two main streams of diffusion of animal and plant domesticates across the continent. From c.6000 BC onwards, early farming diffuses on the one hand across an inland corridor corresponding to modern-day inland Croatia, Serbia, Romania and Hungary, which will lead to further extension along the RhineDanube axis; on the other hand, early farming diffuses westwards along the northern Mediterranean, encompassing the Adriatic basin. The spatial proximity of both streams of diffusion offers a unique opportunity to cast a comparative eye over some of the earliest forms of farming in Europe.