00:00As hunter-gatherers roam the lush green heart of Europe, a radically new way of life dawns on the south-eastern fringes.
00:09One that will transform almost the entire continent.
00:13Europe's first farmers. Around 8,000 years ago, they set to work exploiting the fertile landscape of the eastern Mediterranean.
00:32These newcomers have island-hopped from the near east, lured by the gentle climate and rich soils.
00:48They have brought with them some unique goods, key plants, tools and animals used for generations back in Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization.
01:01Even in the Stone Age, Europe's farmers have enormous impact.
01:17They soon replace hundreds of wild plant species with just a handful of their own.
01:23They use the same seeds to make emmer wheat, barley, rye and olives.
01:36If hunter-gatherers had never become farmers, the woodlands might have remained unscathed.
01:43Seeds of change have been sown.
02:13With enough food available all year round, and with plenty of surplus, people can begin to settle.
02:44The forest canopies that once covered Crete and Malta now give way to fields and pastures.
02:53Agriculture flourishes at the expense of the wild.
02:59In the eastern grasslands, the early settlers exploit another revolutionary resource.
03:07Wild animals that can be easily tamed.
03:18From the Middle East came goats and sheep, brought in by the immigrant farmers.
03:27Soon, these animals would spread across the entire continent, and ultimately contribute to its deforestation.
