Editing Aegean civilization (section)

== Early European Farmers ("EEFs")==
{{See also|Neolithic Europe|Chalcolithic Europe}}

Around 5,000 BC, peoples descending from [[Human migration|migrant]] [[Neolithic Greece|Greek Neolithic]] populations reached the northern [[European Plain|European plain]] in modern-day [[France]] and [[Germany]]; they reached [[Great Britain|Britain]] some 1000 years later.<ref name="bbc.com">Paul Rincon, [https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47938188 Stonehenge: DNA reveals origin of builders.] BBC News, April 16, 2019</ref><ref name="BraceDiekmann2019">{{cite journal|last1=Brace|first1=Selina|last2=Diekmann|first2=Yoan|last3=Booth|first3=Thomas J. |display-authors=etal |title=Ancient genomes indicate population replacement in Early Neolithic Britain|journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution|volume=3|issue=5|year=2019|pages=765–771|issn=2397-334X|doi=10.1038/s41559-019-0871-9|pmid=30988490|pmc=6520225|bibcode=2019NatEE...3..765B }}</ref>

Once in the [[Balkans]], the Aegean EEFs appear to have divided into two wings: one which expanded further north into Europe along the [[Danube]] ([[Linear Pottery culture]]), and another which headed west along the [[Mediterranean]] ([[Cardial Ware]]) into the [[Iberian Peninsula]]. Descendants of this latter group eventually migrated into Britain.<ref>Josh Davis (April 2019), [https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2019/april/neolithic-britain-where-did-the-first-farmers-come-from.html "Neolithic Britain: where did the first farmers come from?"] The Natural History Museum, London</ref> Previously, these areas were populated by [[Western Hunter-Gatherer]] represented by the [[Cheddar Man]].<ref name="bbc.com"/><ref name="BraceDiekmann2019" />

The [[Chalcolithic]] (Copper Age) began in Europe around 5500 BC. Chalcolithic Europeans began to erect [[megaliths]] in this period.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Magazine |first=Smithsonian |last2=Handwerk |first2=Brian |title=Europe’s Megalithic Monuments Originated in France and Spread by Sea Routes, New Study Suggests |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/articles/europe-megalithic-monuments-france-sea-routes-mediterranean-180971467/ |access-date=2025-03-12 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref>