How Did Farming Expand?

Farming has brought numerous benefits to various societies across the globe.  Scientists have been trying to figure out how exactly how farming spread to different societies.  They are specifically paying attention to the comparison between the ideas of farming having been developed initially in the Fertile Crescent and spread through society or if it was developed individually in various areas around similar time frames.

A single group did carry farming to Europe: DNA from ancient farmers in western Anatolia shows that they were the direct ancestors of Europe’s first farmers, known as the Linear Pottery culture; present-day Sardinians share the most DNA with these ancient Anatolians. But the trail of the first farmers went cold in the hot climate of the Middle East, which destroys DNA.

 Though there is evidence of farming being taught, there is still debate as to how the techniques initially began to grow and spread.  Various local societies used different tools in their farming suggesting that it was independently developed.  Though there is also evidence that these various local societies traded obsidan (a volcanic glass), so there is a high possibility that seeds and farming knowledge was also traded.  Of course there is a third option of both occurring!