The first farmers
The Holsteens family notice that the climate is changing. Will they move on with the reindeer or stay here? Click play to start the sound clip.
Hunters become farmers - 9,000 years ago
The vast grasslands became forests. Prehistoric man found food in abundance in these forests. He could also stay in one place for a longer period of time, but he still had to move around so as not to deplete the local natural resources.
But about 6,000 years ago he encountered farmers who came to our regions from the east in search of new land to exploit. Did our local hunters also become farmers? That’s not clear. What we do know is that people here started living very differently. You will discover this in the time tunnel you are now entering.
Task
Play ‘farmer’s memory’ (click here). Do you remember what new tasks prehistoric farmers had?
From hunters-gatherers to the first farmers
Climate change was continuing and we were entering a temperate climate. Gradually more and more trees appeared. Pine and birch were already present and were increasing rapidly in numbers, later followed by hazel, oak, elm, alder, lime and beech. This meant that this entire region was forested about 9,000 years ago. The reindeer and their companions may have disappeared from the region, but the forest meant there were more than enough other animals to hunt. So humans could simply continue their existence as hunter/gatherers.
About 6,000 years ago, our hunter-gatherers were visited by the first farmers who first arrived in Haspengouw from Southeast Asia, but who were now also descending on the De Wijers area. We know this from DNA research of the remains of these first farmers. Hunter-gatherers and farmers coexisted for some time, but after that, agriculture became the standard way of life. What exactly happened to the hunter-gatherers is still unclear. The introduction of agriculture would eventually contribute to serious changes in the landscape. In order to be able to practice agriculture, parts of the forest had to be cleared. But humans not only engaged in agriculture, they also domesticated and bred animals: cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. They let them graze on the abandoned fields so the fields would not become forests again. They also grazed in the forests. This is of course at the expense of the young trees and shrubs, so the rejuvenation of the forests also came to a stop. Due to all these processes, and a small climate fluctuation, the forest population was systematically declining and we were getting open and extensive heathlands.
Switching to agriculture also meant that people needed a permanent place to live. For the first time, permanent buildings were being built, farms of 8 to 10 m wide and 10 to 40 m long.
Listening story
Orin: Mum doesn’t look forward to moving on again. Yotan is only 4 months old and the long treks are tough. She thinks it would be better to stay a bit longer until he is a bit stronger. Now that the climate seems to be warming up, it will also stay green longer. We are going to find nut mushrooms and berries for a few more months so we should not go hungry.
Orin: (soundscape) But Papa is convinced we should leave. Every day there are fewer reindeer coming by. It's the end of the caravan. So we have to move north with them. If we wait now there are not going to be any more reindeer. And later , when it starts freezing, there won't be enough plants either; Dad is afraid it will be too late by then, so he has started packing up the camp.
Orin: But here a bit further on, there is a family, who are no longer travelling around. They come from the east and have made a camp that they won't tear down again. All much sturdier... their huts are made of tree trunks and branches and of mud and straw. They are also more spacious than our tents. Dad likes reindeer skins better than mud and straw because you can roll them up and take them with you. But if you don't move on, you don't need to roll up your mud hut, right?
Orin: (soundscape) The men and women of this family work on a piece of land, next to their settlement. They have sown edible plants, so they no longer have to spend days gathering and searching for food, and I can tell you a lot of time creeps into that. Piew! When Mum heard that, she really didn't want to leave. That's the supermarket of prehistory.
Orin: And because the family also stays here in the winter and there is bitterly little to eat then, they sow grain and barley. That stays good all winter if you keep it dry. And it's not done yet! When we are long gone, and they are still here (Orin is clearly beginning to have sympathy for the farmers), the sheep and wild goats come for the surplus left on the land. The meat comes walking to them!!! Then from the comfort of your armchair, (just kidding, because we don't have seats yet) But then you can shoot an arrow from very close range.
And you know what else they did? They tamed some goats and sheep. (Action) They do have to herd them every day, but they can milk the goats.
Mum wants one of those goats too. She says it would strengthen Yotan if he drinks more milk. She is worried about him, he still has to go through the winter. Those sheep and goats also don't run away from the smell of people anymore. They are tame, which is very new to us. The farmers here live with the animals. Lara has already said she wants a sheep for her birthday.