Agricultural Intensification, Expansion and Trade

In this chapter, I review evidence of changing patterns of reproduction and new trends in health and demography after the transition to sedentary farming, using the Anatolian megasite Catalhöyük as one example. I consider the incentives for farmers to leave the core and settle the periphery with a particular focus on trends in climate. I also give an overview of the initial spread of farming from Anatolia to northwestern Europe and the spread of the Chinese agricultural package throughout East Asia. I then elaborate on economic theories of exchange and assess the archaeological evidence of trade in obsidian and other goods.