It isassumed thatit wasvery earlywhen peoplebegan toeat wildplants, aswell aseverything theearth provided, but untilsome 10000 years ago one cannot speak of the beginning of true agriculture, of knowledge and methods used to till land, raise and gather crops.

After the end of the last Ice Age and the subsequent warming of the climate, favourable conditions emerged for a radical “leap” in the development of prehistoric cultures. The earliest productive economy based on agriculture and animal husbandry appeared in the NearEast (inthe so-calledFertile Crescent), where all conditions for its formation were created in the 12^th millennium BC. Thiswas wherewild progenitorsof allfounder cropsfarmed inthe Eneolithicwere found, as wellas thewill ancestorsof thedomesticated goat, sheep andcow.

The transitionfrom anappropriating toa producingeconomy isone ofthe greatesteconomic revolutionsin thehistory ofmankind, alsocalled theNeolithic oragrarian. This transition covered a long period in the course of which Neolithic people passed through the stage of active and purposeful gathering to reach the stage of cultivation and conscious selection of cereals. Thisdevelopment broughtabout theneed oflong-termsettlement andhousing construction, of usinganimal powerand apurposeful useof thefirst artificialmatter - pottery.

Agriculture emergedand quicklyspread inSouthwest Asiaand North Africa. It is universally assumed that the reasons for the development of agriculture included a climate change in ancient times. Probably after a continuous period over which some crops were sown consciously while other foods were collected in their wild state, there was an easy transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture.  Thedevelopment ofagriculture alsomeant developmentof settlements: the essenceof huntingand gatheringas aneconomic systemconsisted ofusing thenumerous sourcesat disposalwithin theirterritory, atwhich peopleadapted tothe conditionsthey foundand seasonalmigration fromplace toplace wastypical ofthem becausethat washow thehunters andgatherers usedthe varioussources offood inthe bestway. Agriculture, in turn, means asedentary lifestyle, settling constantlyin oneplace (justthink that, once harvested, grain hadto bestored andprotected frommoisture, insects, mould andothers).

At theend ofthe 7^thmillennium BC, the bearersof producingeconomy beganto settlethe BalkanPeninsula and, along therivers Strouma, Vardar andMaritsa, theyquickly reached its interior. On the one hand, there was an infiltration of knowledge, cultivated plants and domesticated animals among the local Mesolithic population, while on the other – a process of blending of the local and the newly-arrived population. Some specific characteristics of Early Neolithic cultures emerged as a result. The oldest settlements with productive economy on the territory of Bulgaria have been registered in Thrace, along the middle flow of the Strouma, in the plain of Radomir and north of the Balkan Range (the settlements of Polyanitsa-Plateau, Orlovets, Koprivets, Djulyunitsa and Ohoden). A secondarysource ofNeolithisation emergedon theBalkan Peninsulafrom whichproducing economyspread toNorthern andWestern Europe.

The topographyof Neolithicand Eneolithicsettlements clearlyshows thatthe placesfor settlementwere chosencarefully, takinginto accountthe appropriatenessof the surrounding terrains for farming. These are well-watered areas with rich soils easy to till with agricultural tools.

Different farmingtechniques wereapplied inthe differentregions depending on the character of the soils and the water regime. Floodwater farming on alluvial fans, which used spring floods, was probably leading in locations near river flooded terrains. Fire and logging were probably used to clear new fields for planting. All activities involving agriculture were closely related to rituals aimed at ensuring fertility.

Ram-shapedcult table, ancient fertilitysymbol, Eneolithic.Vratsa museum

 

The toolsused inagriculture includedhoes, adzesand ards. The principal material of which the working parts of these tools were made was deer antler. Theadze playedan importantrole ingathering andserved todig uproots. In agriculture it was used for clearing roots from the fields prepared for tilling. Ards werea widely-usedagricultural tool. The working surface was smoothly polished by contact with the soil and bears characteristic use-wear traces. The ard is a ploughing tool which made shallow furrows in soft soils. The ploughing was very shallow but completely sufficient for the fertile soils, unexhausted in ancient times.

Boneadze, Eneolithic. Rousse regional Museum of History

 

Convincing evidence of the use of draft cattle for ploughing is provided by research of the pelvic bones of cattle. It has been proved by experiment that these bones undergo specific changes as a result of constant workload during ploughing.

The hoes are massive tools with broadened working blades and holes in the upper end to accommodate handles. They were used mainly for covering the seeds in the furrows with earth.

Bone-antlerhoe, Neolithic. Banatului Museum

 

The cropscultivated byNeolithic and Eneolithic farmers were varied. Analysis of palaeobotanical finds made during excavations shows that the first place among cultivated plants was held by covered wheat species (einkorn/Triticum monococcumL./and emmerwheat /Triticum dicoccumSchub./). Along withthese, therewere twokinds ofbarley andlegumes likepeas andlentil. The manner of crop gathering in prehistoric times has its own peculiarities. Archaeological finds frequently include flint platelets with a mirror shine along the cutting edges. These are platelets for the jagged edge of large, curved wooden sickles. The cutting platelets were attached to the handle with the help of resins, traces of which can occasionally be discerned today.

The high quality of the grain indicates abundant harvests. All palaeo-botanists studying wheat finds from prehistoric sites confirm this conclusion. Therefore, the agricultural technique applied in the Neolithic and the Eneolithic was at a sufficiently high level for its time.

After removal of the weeds, the wheat was heated and ground between two quern-stones, resulting in quite rough flour.

This was probably used to bake small round buns or round pretzels.  The flour ground with the help of quern-stones must have contained quite a lot of grains of stone which found their way in the food and were one of the reasons for the exceptionally worn teeth of prehistoric people.

Oven model, Eneolithic. Kyustendil Regional Museum of History

 

The archaeological data collected show that the agriculture practiced in prehistoric ages was well-developed and provided abundant harvests at relatively short (seasonal) occupation of the population. The new living conditions encouraged the advancement of technologies, as well as the specialization of individuals who acquired skills like sowing, for example, for the first time. This led to social stratification closely related to specialization – two characteristics which were not found in hunter-gatherer communities.

Construction of permanent dwellings appeared with the establishment of sedentary lifestyle. For the first time people had the opportunity for long-term investment, concentrating their efforts in the construction of buildings necessary for life in a permanent settlement (from houses to the earliest types of temple, from granaries to fortifications necessary in every human settlement).

Almost immediately after the emergence of agriculture, archaeological finds begin to show a variety of firmly built dwellings of more or less permanent character.

 

LateBronze Agehut, reconstructionat theCivic Museumsof Pitigliano

The changes generated by agriculture also reflected on other important fields of life: for example, many burial sites began to take the form of buildings. There was also a revolution in the tools used by people - as they were no longer forced to move according to the seasons it was no longer necessary for things to be portable. Pottery - and skilled craftsmen with at - appeared precisely with the beginning of agriculture. In addition, one should note that wealth became important for the first time, for man could collect and keep useful or desired objects.