Scientists have reconsidered the reasons for the transition of ancient people from hunting to farming

A new study shows that the key role was played by the people themselves, more precisely by their competition and communication with each other.

Details: Alfredo Cortell-Nicolau et al, Demographic interactions between the last hunter-gatherers and the first farmers, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2025). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2416221122. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2416221122

About 12,000 years ago, ancient humans abandoned their usual hunting and gathering habits and began growing plants and raising animals. Scientists used to think this was due to external conditions: warming, increased rainfall and fertile land. But now a team of researchers from the UK and Germany has disproved this view.

The scientists used a special mathematical model that is usually used to study the interactions between predators and their prey. With its help, they studied how ancient farmers interacted with hunter-gatherers.

They found that farming spread through migration, competition and cultural exchange between tribes. The more successful farmers displaced hunters or mixed with them, gradually changing the way of life of everyone around them.

We have learnt that humans were not just observers. Their active actions - resettlement and knowledge sharing - were the most important factors in the emergence of farming," explained one of the study's authors, Javier Rivas from the University of Bath.

The scientists also noted that the size and growth of the population affected the speed at which the new culture spread. Now the researchers are going to improve their model and test it in other regions. They hope that their approach will help to study other important historical events.