text: The first farmers came to Europe 8,000 years ago and spread early agricultural practices, starting in Greece. But Northern Europeans during the Neolithic period, initially rejected the practice of farming, which was spreading throughout the rest of the continent, researchers claim. Their findings show a bump in the road in the adoption of farming, which enabled groups of people to move away from foraging and hunting as a means for survival and sparked a ‘major economic revolution’. Experts from Centre for International Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences (CIRHUS) in New York City studied neolithic ornaments (pictured) to understand how farming spread. These beads are examples of personal ornaments worn by the first European farming societies . ‘This discovery goes beyond farming,’ said Solange Rigaud, the study's lead author and a researcher at the Centre for International Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences (CIRHUS) in New York City. ‘It also reveals two different cultural trajectories that took place in Europe thousands of years ago, with southern and central regions advancing in many ways and northern regions maintaining their traditions’. To come to their conclusion, the researchers looked at the adoption or rejection of ornamental beads or bracelets worn by different populations in the Early Neolithic period, which stretched from 8,000 to 5,000 BC. Based on discoveries of different types of Neolithic ornaments in different parts of Europe, they concluded that Northern Europeans in the Neolithic period initially rejected the practice of farming, which was otherwise spreading throughout the continent. Examples of ornaments worn by European foraging societies are shown . Scientists recently discovered that stone-age hunter gatherers in England were trading with continental wheat farmers 8,000 years ago - long before agriculture came to Britain. Farming is thought to have arrived in Britain around 6,000 years ago so experts think that local hunter gatherers bought wheat by trading with European farmers from as far away as the south of France or the Balkans. This means that even 8,000 years ago there must have been trade routes winding their way across the European continent to Britain across an ancient land bridge. The scientists say that the discovery shows that Britain was no-where near as isolated or insular as had been originally thought. They say the findings may also force a complete rethink about how agriculture first arrived in Britain. Dr Robin Allaby, a plant geneticist at the University of Warwick who led the research, said: 'Eight thousand years ago the people of mainland Britain were leading a hunter-gatherer existence, whilst at the same time in southern Europeans farming was gradually spreading across Europe. Previous studies have shown a link between the embrace of survival methods and the adoption of particular ornaments, so by looking at the ornaments, the experts were able to understand the spread of farming practices for the first time. They examined some 200 bead-type objects found at more than 400 European sites over a 3,000-year period, tracing the adoption of ornaments linked to farming populations in order to explain the patterns of transition from foraging and hunting to farming. They found that the pathways of the spread of farming over 3,000 years, are less clear than previously thought. They found ornaments linked to farmers, such as human-shaped beads and bracelets composed of perforated shells, from eastern Greece and the Black Sea to France’s Brittany region and from the Mediterranean Sea northward to Spain. But the researchers did not find these types of ornaments in the Baltic region of northern Europe, according to the study, published in the journal Plos One. This area held on to decorative wear typically used by hunting and foraging populations, such as perforated shells rather than beads or bracelets found in farming communities. Dr Rigaud explained: ‘It's clear hunters and foragers in the Baltic area resisted the adoption of ornaments worn by farmers during this period. ‘We've therefore concluded that this cultural boundary reflected a block in the advancement of farming - at least during the Neolithic period.’ Their findings show a bump in the road of the adoption of farming, which enabled groups of people to move away from foraging and hunting as a means for survival and sparked a ‘major economic revolution’. A stock image of a Neolithic hut, which may have been used by early farmers in modern day France, is shown .
target: Experts from Centre for International Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences (CIRHUS) in New York City studied Neolithic ornaments .
  Necklaces made from shells and teeth date from 5,000 to 8,000 years ago .
  Spread of early jewellery found to correspond to the spread of farming .
  Experts found farming spread more quickly in southern Europe than north .