Book Reviewed: Seeking the First Farmers in Western Sjælland, Denmark: The Archaeology of the Transition to Agriculture in Northern Europe by T. Douglas Price

Archeology of ancient humans in Denmark This work is an archaeological study of the transition from foraging to agriculture in Denmark. The author provides a scientific and personal reflection of European prehistory as he explores broader archaeological themes in Denmark such as, the local hunter-gatherer population, the farmers migrating from Germany and Eastern Europe, impact on human genetics due to the introduction of agriculture, lifestyle changes, the population fusion, the spread of agriculture, seasonality, and sedentism. One of the most interesting facts about the human evolution in Europe is the Western Hunter-Gatherers (WHG) c. 12,500 – 4,000 BCE., had dark skin, blue or green eyes, and dark hair. Then came the migration of neolithic farmers (from c. 4,000 BCE onwards) from the Anatolian/Near Eastern region via the Balkans. They had lighter skin, dark hair, and brown eyes, and brought agriculture, pottery, and new burial practices. The later arrivals, the Indo-Europeans (from c. 2,800 BCE onwards) called the Yamnaya and related Steppe population (from Ukraine), brought Indo-European languages to Europe and Denmark. They gave new genetic addition, they had light skin, light eyes, and blond hair. The original genes of Danish were diluted through interbreeding and selection pressure. The genes for lighter skin (like SLC24A5 and SLC45A2) became advantageous in northern latitudes due to better vitamin D synthesis under low sunlight and they these genes spread through natural selection. Other factors like demographic replacement also played an important role, the farming communities had higher birth rates and more stable food supplies leading to a population boom. This gradually overwhelmed smaller hunter-gatherer populations. The cultural assimilation was also prevalent as the hunter-gatherers adopted farming and merged with agricultural communities eventually losing distinct identities. The author integrates archaeological research with anthropological questions. These studies indicate that while farming groups were present in northern Germany and central Poland by 4500 BCE, agriculture was not adopted in southern Scandinavia until around 3100 BCE., which is quite significant and interesting from the point of ancient history of humans. This book is a good resource for readers interested in the neolithic transition (an archaeological period c. 10000 BCE to c. 4500 BCE), European prehistory, and archaeological methodology. Understanding the complexities of the shift from foraging to farming in northern Europe is not only exciting but also challenging.