Neolithic populations

Milner, N., Craig, O.E., Bailey, G.N., Pedersen, K. and Andersen, S.H. (2004). Something fishy in the Neolithic A re-evaluation of stable isotope analysis of Mesolithic and Neolithic coastal populations. Antiquity 78 9-22. 

Despite the interest in the establishment of farming communities in Europe during the Neolithic transition, there are few models explaining the spatial pattern formed behind the wave of advance. We present a model [124] that provides an explanation for the formation of human settlements and the tendency of the population distribution to form clusters. We show that this large-scale pattern is a transient phenomenon which disappears as an extinction wave due to land degradation. 

Ammerman, A.J., Cavalli-Sforza, L.L. The Neolithic Transition and the Genetics of Populations in Europe. Princeton University Press, Princeton (1984)... 

Fedotov, S., Moss, D., Ctimpos, D. Stochastic model for population migration and the growth of human settlements during the Neolithic transition. Phys. Rev. E 78(2), 026107 (2008). http //link.aps.org/abstract/PRE/v78/e026107... 

Human civilisation could not have been achieved without our ability to extract useful materials from the natural worid. The importance of this ability is the classification of human technological progress into Paleo- and Neolithic (Stone) Ages, followed by metal-based Bronze and Iron Ages (Aitchison, 1960 Macdonald, 1999). The latter two ages, which led to rapid growth in human populations, show the impact of metal on human histoiy - in both war and peace. The importance of metals in everyday life today remains as influential as it has been in the preceding 4000 years, and will continue to dominate as the human population reaches unprecedented numbers over the next 50 years (UN, 2004). 

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