The front speed of the Neolithic (farmer) spread in Europe decreased as it reached Northern latitudes, where the Mesolithic (huntergatherer) population density was higher. Here, we describe a reaction–diffusion model with (i) an anisotropic dispersion kernel depending on the Mesolithic population density gradient and (ii) a modified population growth equation. Both effects are related to the sp...

Abstract Lacking well-dated fifth millennium Mesolithic evidence and based on a consensus that late Britain was isolated from the continent, discussion of Mesolithic–Neolithic transition has focused centuries around 4000 BC. This discourse over-simplified complex neolithisation processes. New, high-quality 460,000 lithics found at Bexhill, Sussex, SE England, helps to redress this. Here, microl...