History of Europe

Encyclopaedia Britannica


Prehistory
The Metal Ages
Greeks, Romans, and barbarians
The Middle Ages
The Renaissance
The emergence of modern Europe, 1500–1648
The great age of monarchy, 1648–1789
Revolution and the growth of industrial society, 1789–1914
European society and culture since 1914

 

History of Europe

Main
history of European peoples and cultures from prehistoric times to the present. Europe is a more ambiguous term than most geographic expressions. Its etymology is doubtful, as is the physical extent of the area it designates. Its western frontiers seem clearly defined by its coastline, yet the position of the British Isles remains equivocal. To outsiders, they seem clearly part of Europe. To many British and some Irish people, however, “Europe” means essentially continental Europe. To the south, Europe ends on the northern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Yet, to the Roman Empire, this was mare nostrum (“our sea”), an inland sea rather than a frontier. Even now, some question whether Malta or Cyprus is a European island. The greatest uncertainty lies to the east, where natural frontiers are notoriously elusive. If the Ural Mountains mark the eastern boundary of Europe, where does it lie to the south of them? Can Astrakhan, for instance, be regarded as European? Can even the Crimea or the Ukraine? The questions have more than merely geographic significance.

These questions have acquired new importance as Europe has come to be more than a geographic expression. After World War II, much was heard of “the European idea.” Essentially, this meant the idea of European unity, at first confined to western Europe but by the beginning of the 1990s seeming able at length to embrace central and eastern Europe as well.

Unity in Europe is an ancient ideal. In a sense it was implicitly prefigured by the Roman Empire. In the Middle Ages, it was imperfectly embodied first by Charlemagne’s empire and then by the Holy Roman Empire and the Roman Catholic church. Later, a number of political theorists proposed plans for European union, and both Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler tried to unite Europe by conquest.

It was not until after World War II, however, that European statesmen began to seek ways of uniting Europe peacefully on a basis of equality instead of domination by one or more great powers. Their motive was fourfold: to prevent further wars in Europe, in particular by reconciling France and Germany and helping to deter aggression by others; to eschew the protectionism and “beggar-my-neighbour” policies that had been practiced between the wars; to match the political and economic influence of the world’s new superpowers, but on a civilian basis; and to begin to civilize international relations by introducing common rules and institutions that would identify and promote the shared interests of Europe rather than the national interests of its constituent states.

Underlying this policy is the conviction that Europeans have more in common than divides them, especially in the modern world. By comparison with other continents, western Europe is small and immensely varied, divided by rivers and mountains and cut into by inlets and creeks. It is also densely populated—a mosaic of different peoples with a multiplicity of languages. Very broadly and inadequately, its peoples can be sorted into Nordic, Alpine or Celtic, and Mediterranean types, and the bulk of their languages classified as either Romance or Germanic. In this sense, what Europeans chiefly share is their diversity; and it may be this that has made them so energetic and combative. Although uniquely favoured by fertile soils and temperate climates, they have long proved themselves warlike. Successive waves of invasion, mainly from the east, were followed by centuries of rivalry and conflict, both within Europe and overseas. Many of Europe’s fields have been battlefields, and many of Europe’s cities, it has been said, were built on bones.

Yet Europeans have also been in the forefront of intellectual, social, and economic endeavour. As navigators, explorers, and colonists, for a long time they dominated much of the rest of the world and left on it the impress of their values, their technology, their politics, and even their dress. They also exported both nationalism and weaponry.

Then, in the 20th century, Europe came close to destroying itself. World War I cost more than 8 million European lives, World War II more than 18 million in battle, bombing, and systematic Nazi genocide—to say nothing of the 30 million who perished elsewhere.

As well as the dead, the wars left lasting wounds, psychological and physical alike. But, whereas World War I exacerbated nationalism and ideological extremism in Europe, World War II had almost the opposite effect. The burned child fears fire; and Europe had been badly burned. Within five years of the war’s end, the French foreign minister Robert Schuman, prompted by Jean Monnet, proposed to Germany the first practical move toward European unity, and the West German chancellor Konrad Adenauer agreed. Others involved in that first step included the statesmen Alcide De Gasperi and Paul-Henri Spaak. All except Monnet were men from Europe’s linguistic and political frontiers—Schuman from Lorraine, Adenauer from the Rhineland, De Gasperi from northern Italy, Spaak from bilingual Belgium. Europe’s diversity thus helped foster its impulse to unite.

Richard J. Mayne

This article treats the history of European society and culture. For a discussion of the physical and human geography of the continent, see Europe. For the histories of individual countries, see specific articles by name. Articles treating specific topics in European history include Byzantine Empire; Steppe, the; World War I; and World War II. For the lives of prominent European figures, see specific biographies by name—e.g., Charlemagne, Erasmus, and Bismarck. Related topics are discussed in such articles as those on religion (e.g., Celtic religion; Greek religion; Germanic religion; Christianity; and Judaism), literature (e.g., English literature, Scandinavian literature, and Russian literature), and the fine arts (e.g., painting, history of; and music, history of).



 

Prehistory


The appearance of anatomically modern humans in Europe about 35,000 bc was accompanied by major changes in culture and technology. There was a further period of significant change after the last major Pleistocene glaciation, which included the widespread adoption of farming and the establishment of permanent settlements from the 7th millennium bc. These laid the foundation for all future developments of European civilization.

Knowledge of these early periods of the European past is entirely dependent on archaeology. The evidence, which has almost all been collected since the middle of the 19th century, varies greatly from region to region and is limited by what was deposited and by whether what was deposited has survived. The archaeological evidence has also been disturbed by a range of human and natural processes, from glacial activity to farming and modern development. Modern techniques have greatly increased the amount of information available, but many parts of the story of the past may be difficult or impossible to recover, and the evidence that has been revealed needs to be assessed in the light of all these factors.

Dating depends on scientific methods. Cores through deep ocean-floor sediments and the Arctic ice cap have provided a continuous record of climatic conditions for the last one million years, but individual sites cannot easily be matched to it. Radiocarbon dating is effective to 35,000 years ago, and prior to that other scientific methods can be used with varying degrees of precision. Tree rings give precise dates for wood as early as the 5th millennium bc. Detailed typological studies, especially of pottery and stone tools, can be used to establish the relative sequence of material. The dates cited in this section are based on various scientific methods. For the earliest period, to about 35,000 bc, they are derived from absolute determinations by potassium-argon and thorium-uranium dating, together with correlations to the deep-sea and ice-core sequences; for the later period, they are derived primarily from radiocarbon determinations, calibrated where appropriate to give actual calendar years.

Prehistory » Paleolithic settlement » Earliest developments
The period of human activity to the end of the last major Pleistocene glaciation, about 8300 bc, is termed the Paleolithic Period (Old Stone Age); that part of it from 35,000 to 8300 bc is termed the Upper Paleolithic.

The climatic record shows a cyclic pattern of warmer and colder periods; in the last 750,000 years, there have been eight major cycles, with many shorter episodes. In the colder periods, the Arctic and Alpine ice sheets expanded, and sea levels fell. Some parts of southern Europe may have been little affected by these changes, but the advance and retreat of the ice sheets and accompanying glacial environments had a significant impact on northern Europe; at their maximum advance, they covered most of Scandinavia, the North European Plain, and Russia. Human occupation fluctuated in response to these changing conditions, but continuous settlement north of the Alps required a solution to the problems of living in extremely cold conditions.

By 1,000,000 years ago hominids were widely distributed in Africa and Asia, and some finds in Europe may be that early. The earliest securely dated material is from Isernia la Pineta in southern Italy, where stone tools and animal bones were dated to about 730,000 bc. Thereafter the evidence becomes more plentiful, and by 375,000 bc most areas except Scandinavia, the Alps, and northern Eurasia had been colonized.

Fossil remains of the hominids themselves are rare, and most of the evidence consists of stone tools. The simplest were chopping tools made from pebbles with a few flakes struck off to create an edge. These were replaced by more complex traditions of toolmaking, which produced a range of hand axes and flake tools; these industries are referred to as Acheulian, after the French site of Saint-Acheul. Some of the tools were for woodworking, but only rarely do any tools of organic material, such as wooden spears, survive as evidence of other Paleolithic technologies.

The subsistence economy depended on hunting and gathering. Population densities were necessarily low, and group territories were large. The main evidence is animal bones, which suggest a varied reliance on species such as rhinoceros, red deer, ibex, and horse, but it is difficult to reconstruct how such food was actually acquired. Open confrontation with large animals, such as the rhinoceros, is unlikely, and they were probably killed in vulnerable locations such as lake-edge watering spots; at La Cotte de Sainte Brelade in the Channel Islands, rhinoceroses and mammoths were driven over a cliff edge. Scavenging meat from already dead animals also may have been important. Food resources such as migratory herds and plants were available only seasonally, so an annual strategy for survival was necessary. It is not clear, however, how it was possible to store food acquired at times of plenty; carcasses of dead animals frozen in the snow would have provided a store of food.

From the beginning of the last major Pleistocene glaciation about 120,000 bc, the hominid fossils belong to the Neanderthals, who have been found throughout Europe and western Asia, including the glacial environments of central Europe. They were biologically and culturally adapted to survival in the harsh environments of the north, though they are also found in more moderate climates in southern Europe and Asia. Finds of stone tools from the Russian plains suggest the first certain evidence of colonization there by 80,000 bc. Despite their heavy skeletons and developed brow ridges, Neanderthals were probably little different from modern humans. Some of the skeletal remains appear to be from deliberate burials, the first evidence for such careful behaviour among humans.

 

Prehistory » Paleolithic settlement » Upper Paleolithic developments
From about 35,000 bc, anatomically modern humans—Homo sapiens sapiens, the ancestor of modern populations—were found throughout Europe, and the following period was marked by a series of important technological and cultural changes, in marked contrast to the comparative stability of the preceding hundreds of thousands of years. These changes cannot be simply explained as the result of the sudden appearance of modern, intelligent humans. The preceding Neanderthals differed little in brain size, and some Neanderthal remains are associated with tool assemblages of the new technology as well as with behavioral practices such as burial. The problem of the relationship of the Neanderthals to the sudden appearance of modern humans is difficult; possible explanations include total replacement of Neanderthals by modern populations, interbreeding with an immigrant modern population, or Neanderthals as ancestors of modern humans.

The technological changes of the Upper Paleolithic Period include the disappearance of heavy tools such as hand axes and choppers and the introduction of a much wider range of tools for special purposes, many of them made from long, thin blades. Tools made of antler, bone, and ivory were also widely used, apparently for the first time. After 18,000 bc there were further innovations. Flint was pretreated by heating to alter its structure and make flaking easier, and new tool types included harpoons, needles for sewing fur garments, and small blades for hafting in spears and arrows. The new technologies and more complex and specialized tool types suggest a major change in the pattern of energy expenditure. Much more effort was devoted to the careful use of resources, and tools were prepared in advance and retained, rather than made and discarded expediently.

Sites of this period are found throughout Europe, though at the height of the last major Pleistocene glaciation (about 35,000 to 13,000 bc) much of the North European Plain was abandoned as populations moved south. There is a greatly increased number of sites, many of which show evidence of more permanent structures such as hearths, pavements, and shelters built of skins on a frame of bone or wood. Some of this increase may be due to the greater likelihood of finding sites of this more recent period, but it may also indicate a growing population density and a greater investment of energy in construction.

Subsistence still depended on hunting and gathering, but the role of plant foods is difficult to estimate. As population increased, group territories may have become smaller, and the increasingly harsh environments of the last glaciation necessitated appropriate strategies for survival. Some sites show a concentration on particular large animal species (horse and reindeer in the north and ibex and red deer in the south), but there is also evidence for the increasing use of other food resources, such as rabbits, fish, and shellfish. In comparison with large animals, these produced small amounts of food, but they were an important addition because of their greater reliability. Settlement patterns reflect these social and economic strategies, which allowed most of the population to stay at one location for long periods while others left to procure distant resources.

Some of the most important evidence is for change in social organization and human behaviour. There is increasing evidence for deliberate and careful burial, sometimes with elaborate treatment of the dead. At Sungir in Russia and at Grotta Paglicci in Italy, for instance, the dead were buried with tools and ornaments, indicating a respect for their identity or status. Personal ornaments, especially bracelets, beads, and pendants, are common finds. They were made from a wide variety of materials, including animal teeth, ivory, and shells; some appear to have been sewn onto garments. Such ornamentation not only shows an elaboration of clothing and an interest in display but may also have been used as a means of signaling individual or group identity.

The earliest art objects in Europe also date from this period. There are small figurines of animals and humans made from finely carved bone or ivory. Among the most striking are the so-called Venus figurines, stylized representations of females with large breasts and buttocks, which show a marked degree of similarity from France to Russia. There are also thousands of small stone plaques engraved with representations of humans and animals.

Art is also found in caves, particularly in France and Spain, in caves such as Lascaux and Altamira, though there is one cave at Kapova in the Urals with decoration in a similar style. In some cases, reliefs of humans or animals are carved on rock walls, but the most spectacular artworks are the paintings, dominated by large animals such as mammoth, horse, or bison; human figures are rare, but there are many other signs and symbols. The precise meaning of this art is impossible to recover, but it appears to have played a significant part in group ceremonial activity; much of it is in almost inaccessible depths of caves and may have been important for rituals of hunting or initiation.

The similarity in style over great distances—seen most clearly in the case of the Venus figurines—is evidence for the existence of extensive social networks throughout Europe. Material items also were transmitted over long distances, especially particular types of flint, fossil shell, and marine mollusks. Such networks were most extensive at the height of the last glaciation and were an important social solution to the problem of surviving in extreme climates; they provided alliances to supply food and other material resources as well as information about a far-flung environment. Human developments during this so-called Ice Age thus included not only technological, economic, and social solutions to the problems of adaptation and survival but also an increased awareness of individual and group identity and a new field of symbolic and artistic activity.

Prehistory » Mesolithic adaptations
The extreme conditions of the last Pleistocene glaciation began to improve about 13,000 bc as temperatures slowly rose. The Scandinavian Ice Sheet itself started to retreat northward about 8300 bc, and the period between then and the origins of agriculture (at various times in the 7th to 4th millennia, depending on location) was one of great environmental and cultural change. It is termed the Mesolithic Period (Middle Stone Age) to emphasize its transitional importance, but the alternative term Epipaleolithic, used mostly in eastern Europe, stresses the continuity with processes begun earlier.

As the ice sheets retreated, vast areas of new land in northern Europe were opened up for human occupation. Resettlement began in some short warmer episodes at the end of the last glaciation. In the longer term, the melting of the Arctic glaciers produced a rise in sea levels, though this was to some extent offset by a rise in land levels as the weight of the overlying ice was removed. The combined effect of these processes was to flood large areas of land in the Mediterranean and especially in the North Sea basin. Britain was isolated from the continent during the 7th millennium, and the modern coastline was broadly established by the 4th.

The changes in physical landforms were accompanied by similarly major changes in the environment. The rising temperature and humidity led to the increased growth of plant life, including birch and pine as well as smaller trees and bushes that produced nuts and fruit. Continued climatic amelioration meant further environmental change, and the initial open forest progressively gave way to climax forest dominated by oak and elm, which crowded out many of the smaller species. There were similar changes among animals. The large animals of the Ice Age such as bison and mammoth disappeared, either because of climatic change or from overhunting, and reindeer herds moved northward in search of colder conditions. The European forests were dominated by smaller animals, such as wild cattle, pigs, and deer, with ibex in the south.

The evidence for human exploitation of these changing environments varies considerably, depending on the precise range of regionally available resources. As the reindeer moved north, so did some human groups. Others adapted to the new animal and plant resources available. Wild cattle, deer, and pigs were widely hunted, as well as many types of bird. Fish were also caught, including river species such as salmon and carp and many sea species. On the western coasts, shellfish also were exploited. The role of plant foods is difficult to estimate, but there is evidence for the use of many species, including hazelnuts and various berries.

These new patterns of economy needed new technologies. Stone tools increasingly took the form of small blades for tipping or hafting in arrows and spears. Where conditions allow their survival, it is possible to see many new tools and equipment made of organic materials, though some, such as the bow and arrow, may have been made in earlier periods. Hooks, nets, and traps for fishing; birch bark containers; and textiles made from plant fibres are all known. Canoes and paddles also have been found.

Though subsistence was dependent on hunting and gathering seasonally available resources, those resources could be managed in elementary ways. Hunting strategies concentrated on taking adult males, preserving the young and female animals needed to maintain the herds. Dogs were a source of meat and fur, but they may also have been used in hunting. It may have been possible to control the movement of herds by making clearances in the forest, thus attracting animals to the new growth; the evidence for fire and repeated small-scale clearances supports this theory. Plants may have been husbanded. In these ways, human control was exercised over the environment and its resources.

Human occupation expanded throughout Europe, and many areas show a pattern of settlement with base camps occupied by all members of the group for some part of the year and small sites used for the exploitation of some particular resource. Wide social networks continued to exist, as shown by the long-distance exchange of some raw materials such as special types of rock. Mobility may have been important for ensuring an adequate annual subsistence, but some environments, such as the coastal regions of the Baltic and the west, may have allowed the possibility of more permanent settlement. Reliance on fish and shellfish there might be thought a last resort; alternatively, it could have been a purposive choice of resources that would allow permanent residence. Denmark and western France have traditions of deliberate human burial that support this theory.

Thus the environmental changes were met with a variety of social, economic, and technological responses, but human society did not adapt passively. Opportunities existed to manage the environment more actively and to make choices for social rather than purely survival purposes.

 

Prehistory » The Neolithic Period » The adoption of farming
From about 7000 bc in Greece, farming economies were progressively adopted in Europe, though areas farther west, such as Britain, were not affected for two millennia and Scandinavia not until even later. The period from the beginning of agriculture to the widespread use of bronze about 2300 bc is called the Neolithic (New Stone Age).

Agriculture had developed at an earlier date in the Middle East, and the relationship of Europe to that area and the mechanism of the introduction of agriculture have been variously explained. At one extreme is a model of immigrant colonization from the Middle East, with the agricultural frontier pushing farther westward as population grew and new settlements were founded. A variation of this model denies the uniformity of such a “wave of advance” and stresses the possibility of a more irregular pioneering movement. At the other extreme is a model of agricultural adoption by indigenous Mesolithic groups, with a minimum of reliance on any introduced people or resources.

In favour of the intrusive model is the nature of the crops that formed the basis of early agriculture; the main cereals were emmer wheat, einkorn wheat, and barley, together with other plants such as peas and flax. These had all been domesticated in the Middle East, where their wild progenitors were found. The material culture of the earliest farmers in Greece and southeastern Europe also shows great similarity to that of the Middle East. On the other hand, the animals important to early agriculture are not so clearly introduced; wild sheep and goats may have been available in southern Europe, and cattle were probably domesticated in southeastern Europe at least as early as in the Middle East. There also were definite European contributions; the dog was domesticated in Europe in the Mesolithic Period, and evidence suggests that the horse was first domesticated on the Western Steppe.

The process of agricultural adoption, furthermore, was neither fast nor uniform. It took at least 4,000 years for farming to reach its northern limit in Scandinavia, and there it was the success of fishing and sealing that allowed agriculture as a desirable addition to the economy. In many areas of western Europe, it is likely that domesticated animals were used before the adoption of agricultural plants. It is also possible to argue for a considerable Mesolithic contribution, especially in the north and west. Not only did some areas continue to rely on hunting and gathering in addition to farming but there was also continuity of settlement location and resource use, especially of stone for tools. Despite the disappearance of the small blades previously used for spears and arrows and the appearance of heavy tools for forest clearance, there was some continuity of tool technology.

The adoption of farming is unlikely to have been a simple or uniform process throughout Europe. In some regions, especially Greece, the Balkans, southern Italy, central Europe, and Ukraine, actual colonization by new populations may have been important; elsewhere, especially in the west and north, a gradual process of adaptation by indigenous communities is more likely, though everywhere the pattern would have been mixed.

The consequences of the adoption of farming were important for all later developments. Permanent settlement, population growth, and exploitation of smaller territories all brought about new relationships between people and the environment. Mobility had previously necessitated small populations at low densities and had allowed only material items that could be carried, with little investment in structures; these restraints were removed, and the opportunity was created for many new crafts and technologies.

The earliest evidence for agriculture comes from sites in Greece, such as Knossos and Argissa, soon after 7000 bc. During the 7th millennium, farming was widespread in southeastern Europe. The material culture of this region bears a strong similarity to that of the Middle East. Pottery making was introduced, and a variety of highly decorated vessels was produced. Permanent settlements of small mud-brick houses were established; continuous rebuilding of such villages on the same spot produced large settlement mounds, or tells. Clay figurines, mostly female, are common finds in many houses, and there may also have been special shrines or temples. The precise beliefs cannot be ascertained, but they suggest the importance of ritual and religion in these societies. By the 5th and 4th millennia, some of these sites, such as Sesklo and Dhimini in Greece, were defended. From the early 5th millennium, there is evidence for the development of copper and gold metallurgy, independently of Middle Eastern traditions, and copper mines have been found in the Balkan Peninsula. Metal products included personal ornaments as well as some functional items; the cemetery at Varna, Bulg., contained many gold objects, with large collections in some graves. Control of ritual, technology, and agriculture, as well as the need for defense, all suggest the growing differentiation within Neolithic society.

In the central and western Mediterranean, the clearest evidence is from southern Italy, where a mixed farming economy was established in the 7th millennium. Many large villages, often surrounded by enclosure ditches, have been recognized. Elsewhere in the region, domesticated crops and animals were adopted more slowly into the indigenous economies. New technologies also were adopted; pottery decorated with characteristic impressed patterns was made, and by the 4th millennium copper was being worked in Spain. The major islands of the Mediterranean were colonized. The general picture is one of small-scale regional development. One such regional pattern was on Malta, where a series of massive stone temples was constructed from the early 4th millennium.

In a band across central and western Europe, the earliest farmers from 5400 bc onward are represented by a homogeneous pattern of settlements and material culture, named the LBK Culture (from Linienbandkeramik or Linearbandkeramik), after the typical pottery decorated with linear bands of ornament. The same styles of pottery and other material are found throughout the region, and their settlements show a regular preference for the easily worked and well-drained loess soils. The houses were 20 to 23 feet (6 to 7 metres) wide and up to 150 feet long and possibly included stalling for animals; in some areas they were grouped in large villages, but elsewhere there was a dispersed pattern of small clusters of houses. Some cemeteries are known; they show a concentration of objects deposited with older males. About 4700 bc the cultural homogeneity ended, and regional patterns of settlement and culture appeared as the population grew and new areas were exploited for farming. Some of the best information comes from villages on the edges of lakes in France and Switzerland, where organic material has been preserved in damp conditions.

Farming also spread northeastward into the steppe north of the Black Sea. Before 6000 bc domesticated animals and pottery were found there, but in societies that still relied heavily on hunting and fishing. By about 4500 bc a new pattern of villages, such as at Cucuteni and Tripolye, was established with a mixed farming economy. Some of these villages contained many hundreds of houses in a planned layout, and they were increasingly surrounded by massive fortifications. Farther east across the steppe as far as the southern Urals, pottery, domesticated animals, and cereals were progressively added to an indigenous hunting-and-gathering economy, and the horse was domesticated. Nomadic pastoral economies developed by the 2nd millennium.

Farming extended from central to northern Europe only after a long interval. For a millennium, agriculturalists and hunter-gatherers were in contact and pottery was adopted or exchanged, but domesticated animals and crops were only introduced into northern Germany, Poland, and southern Scandinavia about 4200 bc, apparently after a decline in the availability of marine food resources. Farming was rapidly adopted as the mainstay of subsistence and expanded to its maximum climatic viability in Scandinavia. By the middle of the 4th millennium, large communal tombs were being built, frequently of megalithic (large-stone) construction.

In western Europe, there was a similar delay in the spread of farming. In western France, domesticated animals were added to hunting and gathering in a predominantly stock-based economy, and pottery was also adopted. In Britain and Ireland, forest clearance as early as 4700 bc may represent the beginnings of agriculture, but there is little evidence for settlements or monuments before 4000 bc, and hunting-and-gathering economies survived in places. The construction of large communal tombs and defended enclosures from 4000 bc may mark the growth of agricultural populations and the beginning of competition for resources. Some of the enclosures were attacked and burned, clear evidence of violent warfare. The tombs, of earth and timber or of megalithic construction, contained communal burials and served as markers for claims to farming territories as well as foci for the worship of ancestors. Some, such as the tombs of Brittany and Ireland, contained elaborately decorated stones.

Prehistory » The Neolithic Period » The late Neolithic Period » Agricultural intensification
From the late 4th millennium a number of developments in the agricultural economy became prominent. They did not, however, begin all at once nor were they found everywhere. Some of them may have been in use for some time, and there also are distinct regional variations. Cumulatively, however, they add up to a new phase of agricultural organization.

One of the most important developments was the management of animal herds for purposes other than the provision of meat. In the case of cattle, there is some evidence for milk production earlier, but dairying appears to have taken on a much more significant role from this time. Oxen were raised to provide traction. Sheep were managed not for meat but primarily as a source of manure and wool. Textiles in the early Neolithic Period were predominantly made of flax, but from the early 3rd millennium wool was widely used, and spinning and weaving became important crafts and new ways of exploiting agricultural resources. New crops also were introduced. The most important were the vine and the olive, found in Greece from the early 3rd millennium. These tree crops represented an important addition to the range of agricultural produce and formed the basis for later developments in the Aegean.

There were also new technologies, especially the use of animal traction for the plow and for wheeled vehicles. The earliest evidence for plowing consists of marks preserved in the soil under burial mounds and dated to the end of the 4th millennium. A clay model of a wheeled cart of the same date is known from a grave at Szigetszentmárton, Hung., and actual wheels from northern Europe by 2500 bc. In southeastern Spain, the most arid area of Europe, irrigation systems were probably introduced. These all represent important new technologies applied to agriculture and an intensification of energy expenditure in that field.

The innovations outlined above marked the development of early agriculture toward a system more specifically adapted to the European environment and capable of producing a much wider range of outputs, especially of nonfood products. Some, such as wine and cloth, had a particular social significance, and others, especially the wheeled vehicle, led to further developments. The new agricultural regime also showed a better adaptation to the wide variety of regional environments in Europe and permitted expansion into new ecological zones. Whereas the earliest farmers mostly preferred the prime arable soils, such as the loess of central Europe, it was now possible, especially with the use of sheep, to exploit many less fertile soils.

Prehistory » The Neolithic Period » The late Neolithic Period » Social change
The period from the late 4th millennium also saw many important social changes. They varied from region to region but laid the foundations for the society of the Bronze Age, which followed.

In southeastern Europe about 3200 bc, there was a major break in material culture and settlement patterns. The old styles of decorated pottery were replaced with new plainer forms, and the evidence for ritual, such as the figurines, ends. Many of the long-occupied tell sites were abandoned; the new settlement pattern shows many smaller sites and some larger ones which may have played a central role. In Greece there were similar changes, with population expansion especially in the south and the emergence of some sites as centres of authority; this period marked the beginning of the Aegean Bronze Age.

Elsewhere in the Mediterranean the changes are most marked in parts of Iberia. At Los Millares in southeastern Spain and in southern Portugal at sites such as Vila Nova de São Pedro, strongly fortified settlements accompanied by cemeteries containing rich collections of prestige goods suggest the appearance of a more hierarchically organized society. Similar trends toward the emergence of sites of central authority took place in southern France, but there is little sign of such developments in Italy.

In central and northern Europe, changes of a different nature began about 2800 bc. The most obvious feature is two phases of new burial rites, comprising individual rather than communal burials with a particular emphasis on the deposition of prestige grave goods with adult males. The first phase, characterized by Corded Ware pottery and stone battle-axes, is found particularly in central and northern Europe. The second phase, dated to 2500–2200 bc, is marked by Bell Beaker pottery and the frequent occurrence of copper daggers in the graves; it is found from Hungary to Britain and as far south as Italy, Spain, and North Africa. At the same time, there was an increase in the exchange of prestige goods such as amber, copper, and tools from particular rock sources.

Both of these burial rites have been attributed to invading population groups. On the other hand, they may also be seen as a new expression of an ideology of social status, emphasizing control of resources rather than ancestral descent. Such an explanation fits better with a picture of slow internal development within European society. The new ideology did not prevail everywhere, however, and in Britain, for instance, the 3rd millennium saw the construction of massive ceremonial monuments such as Avebury and Stonehenge, before the introduction of individual burial rites at the end of the millennium.

Prehistory » The Neolithic Period » The Indo-Europeans
When there is evidence for the languages spoken in Europe at the end of the prehistoric period, it is clear that with few exceptions, such as Basque or Etruscan, they belonged to the Indo-European language group, which also extended to India and Central Asia. This raises the question of when these languages, or their ancestral prototype, were first spoken in Europe. One theory links these languages with a particular population of Indo-Europeans and explains the expansion of the languages as the result of invasion or immigration; their origin is sought in the east, perhaps in the area north of the Black and Caspian seas. The invasion is associated with the new patterns of settlement, economy, material culture, burial, and social organization seen about 3000 bc. These innovations, however, may be better attributed to internal developments. An alternative explanation for the origin of Indo-European languages associates it with the immigration of the first farmers from Anatolia at the beginning of the Neolithic Period, but the spread of farming does not seem to have been a uniform process or to have been achieved everywhere by population migration. There is, however, no single archaeological pattern that might correspond to a migration on an appropriate geographic scale throughout Europe, and all these explanations raise fundamental questions about the development, spread, and adoption of languages, the relationship of language to ethnic groups, and the correspondence of archaeologically recognizable patterns of material culture to either language or ethnicity.

Timothy C. Champion