1 102 A Greece @ Early farmers in Greece grew cereals and pulses and kept cattle, sheep and goats. The Minoans and Mycenaeans also cultivated vines and olives. By 700 BC Greece was no longer producing enough food to support its growing population. Colonies established around the northern Black Sea became the main source of grain for many Greek city states.
# Greece, Greek coin from Italy depicting ear of barley
2 101 x The Alpine region @ Villages built around the margins of Alpine lakes give an unusually full picture of European farming life due to the preservation by waterlogging of remains here. A rich diversity of resources were exploited by their inhabitants, including not only crops and domestic animals but also game, fish and wild plants such as nuts and fruit.
# Alpine region, food remains recovered from lake villages
3 103 B Central Europe @ The first farmers in Central Europe occupied easily cultivated loess (fine wind-deposited loam) soils where they built wooden longhouses. Gradually settlement expanded onto other soils, reaching a peak in the Bronze Age. Animals were initially raised for meat but later other animal products like milk and wool became increasingly important. Cattle were used to draw ploughs.
# Central Europe, Pair of bronze figurines of cattle
4 101 X The Balkans and the steppe @ Early farming communities in the Balkans were established on fertile plains where their long-lived settlements of mudbrick houses developed into tells: huge mounds composed of demolished houses and occupation debris. By 1500 BC groups in the eastern regions who kept sheep and horses were colonizing the steppe as mobile pastoralists.
# The Balkans and the steppe, Scythians lassooing a horse, detail on amphora from Chertomlyk
5 101 x The Western Mediterranean @ Crops and animals originally from West Asia were adopted by native hunter-gatherer groups in lands around the Mediterranean. Later grapes and olives were also cultivated: wine was exported to Iron Age European chiefs by the Greeks, Etruscans and Romans. During the Roman Empire massive grain supplies were grown on estates in North Africa to feed Italy's population.
# Western Mediterranean, Amphora
6 103 E Western and northern Europe @ Cereal cultivation and animal husbandry spread west and north from Central Europe and were taken up by native hunter-gatherers. By the Bronze Age all but the heaviest soils were under cultivation: the development of heavier ploughs in the Iron Age brought these lands into agricultural use too.
# Western and northern Europe, Rock art scene of ploughing
7 101 X Horses @ Domesticated on the steppe, horses were introduced into Europe sometime after 3000 BC. They are found in many burials, along with the carts that they pulled; horse-riding was a later development.
#Horse
8 101 X Pigs @ Pigs were particularly important to pioneer communities because their grubbing habits aided forest clearance.
#Pig
9 101 X Dogs @ Europe's first domestic animal, the dog was domesticated from the wolf around the end of the last Ice Age, providing people with help in hunting, companionship and defence.
#Dog
10 101 X Cattle @ Domestic cattle, which became important particularly for the pioneer farming settlers of central Europe, are first known in Knossos around 6000 BC. Used first for meat and hides, milking later assumed equal or greater importance.
#Cattle
11 101 X Goats @ Introduced from West Asia, goats were most popular among communities in the south-east of Europe. In addition to meat for food and hides for leather, goats provided hair that could be spun into yarn.
#Goat
12 101 X Sheep @ Introduced to Europe from West Asia, sheep at first provided meat and hides. Genetic changes favouring wool production eventually made them important also as the providers of the yarn for weaving cloth.
#Sheep
13 101 X Wheat @ Domestic emmer and einkorn wheat were introduced to south-east Europe from West Asia, but more efficient hybrid strains such as bread wheat and club wheat were also cultivated by Europeans.
#Wheat
14 101 X Rye @ Rye, originally cultivated in West Asia, gained popularity in Europe because of its suitability for cold and wet conditions.
#Rye
15 101 X Barley @ Introduced to Europe from West Asia, barley was particularly suitable for growing on poorer soils or in conditions of higher rainfall or cold.
#Barley
16 101 X Oats @ Probably originally a weed gathered with the wheat and barley harvest, later oats were cultivated as a crop in their own right.
#Oats
17 101 X Pulses @ Pulses, such as peas and beans, played an important role both in providing protein in the diet and in putting nitrogen back into the arable soil.
#Pulses
18 101 X Flax @ The fibres of flax were used for making cloth long before wool was. Evidence of flax cultivation declined in the Aegean as woolly sheep became more numerous. The plant also provided nutritious oil seeds.
#Flax
19 101 X Olives @ Olives were stored both as dried fruit and as oil. They shared the advantages of grapes: late harvest and cultivation on marginal land. The olive tree bears fruit only after decades of growth, hence the use of the olive branch as a symbol of peace, without which trees would never reach maturity.
#Olive
20 101 X Vines @ The cultivation of grapes from around 3000 BC had many benefits. Their produce could be stored both as dried sultanas and as wine. They grew on land useless for cereal and pulse cultivation and they were harvested later than other crops.
#Vine
21 101 X Fruits @ Many wild fruits and nuts, such as plum, cherry, acorn and pistachio, were eaten by early farmers. Later these and other trees were deliberately planted, tended and introduced to areas outside their natural range.
#Fruits
22 101 X Vegetables @ Archaeological evidence of early vegetables is scarce since the parts not eaten quickly decayed, leaving no trace. Many vegetables were grown in later times so it is likely that early farmers also raised a variety of them.
