Details of Award
NERC Reference : NER/O/S/2003/00644
The domestication of Europe.
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Professor TA Brown, The University of Manchester, Life Sciences
- Co-Investigator:
- Professor G Jones, University of Sheffield, Archaeology
- Co-Investigator:
- Professor M Jones, University of Cambridge, Archaeology
- Co-Investigator:
- Dr J Reeves, National Inst of Agricultural Botany, Directorate
- Co-Investigator:
- Professor MP Charles, University of Oxford, School of Archaeology
- Grant held at:
- The University of Manchester, Life Sciences
- Science Area:
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Terrestrial
- ENRIs:
- Natural Resource Management
- Biodiversity
- Science Topics:
- Ecosystem Scale Processes
- Palaeoenvironments
- Population Genetics/Evolution
- Science-Based Archaeology
- Abstract:
- Agriculture began about 10,000 years ago in the 'Fertile Crescent', a region of Southwest Asia comprising the plains of Mesopotamia, parts of Syria and Palestine, and some of the mountainous areas to the east of Anatolia. Cereals were among the first plants to be domesticated, barley and wheat being present at farming sites dating to the 9th millennium BC. After some 1500 years, cereal cultivation began to expand out of Southwest Asia into Europe, first appearing in the Balkans at about 6500 BC and during the next 3000 years spreading into Europe by two principal routes, one following the Danube and Rhine valleys through central Europe and into the north European plain, and the second taking a coastal route through Italy and Iberia to northwest Europe. There has been much debate about the factors underlying agricultural spread, not only the nature of the social contacts made between the pre-agricultural foragers and the first farmers, but also the impact of the ecological pressures placed on the crops and the genetic responses of the crops to these pressures. Recent research at UMIST has suggested that the patterns of genetic variation among modern cereal landraces preserve a Neolithic signature from which information pertaining to the initial domestication of Europe might be deduced. We will assemble a much larger genetic database than has hitherto been available for modern landraces of barley and wheat, covering the whole of Europe, and we will determine the extent to which the genetic data preserve a Neolithic signature by comparing these data with equivalent genetic data that we will obtain from DNA preserved in archaeological and historic specimens, and by using the data to test a series of hypotheses derived from archaeological and linguistic evidence relating to the spread of agriculture. The project will promote NERC's mission in the area of Science-Based Archaeology and is specifically relevant to two of the three priority areas highlighted for encouragement and growth in the 2002-2007 Science Plan. By providing information on how and to what extent environmental factors have influenced the development, differentiation and sustentation of European landraces of barley and wheat the project will address issues relevant to sustainable economies, in particular the effect of changes in land management scenarios and new farming systems on agricultural sustainability. These environmental factors will include climate change, the project being particularly relevant to the question of how terrestrial species adjust to climate and environmental change, especially within the fragmented land uses of Europe.
- Period of Award:
- 1 Jul 2004 - 29 Feb 2008
- Value:
- £178,671 Lead Split Award
Authorised funds only
- NERC Reference:
- NER/O/S/2003/00644
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Consortiums Pre FEC
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Consortiums
This grant award has a total value of £178,671
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - T&S | Total - Staff | Total - Other Costs | Total - Equipment | Total - Indirect Costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £14,834 | £87,139 | £32,188 | £4,425 | £40,084 |
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