ABSTRACT
There is a long-standing debate about whether or not the lives of people, and especially those who lived in prehistoric or early historic times, were substantially influenced by their environment. Some researchers, for instance, consider that neolithic farmers were continually struggling with nature; impoverished soils, encroaching weeds and worsening climates were their lot. To what extent did ‘nature’ control the activities of these farmers? The answers may be as diverse as the regions farmed and probably there is no single answer. I will content myself on this occasion with considering a specific aspect of the economy: the cereals grown during the early and middle Neolithic in a very restricted area, i.e., the loess area in the southeastern part of the Netherlands. This area measures approximately 25 km by 25 km and lies between the towns of Sittard, Maastricht and Heerlen (figure 19.1).
