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Yes, they are basically deconstructing the old idea. Firstly pointing out that agriculture actually takes the farmers more time than hunting gathering, to be economic the farming had to benefit large groups of people. It would be obvious then (to the authors) that large groups of people living together came before farming, and buildings at Goeblki Tepe in Turkey <i>did</i> date back to the mesolithic hunting-gathering time, as do some Carrowmore tombs. The authors deduct from this that religious/cult practices brought people together first rather than farming and the building of the massive temples at Gobleki Tepe would require large numbers of people available to work rather than hunt. To free up the labour force to build massive temples dedicated to the religion/cult that brought them together, they developed or unwittingly created the first farming system.
To strenghten their case, they discovered the first domesticated wheat originated 18 miles away and the constant harvesting/seeding of waste eventually domesticated the grain.

many burial mounds and chambered tombs must have acted as meeting points for pastoralists leading their cattle up and down the hills, indeed, many of the ones I love in various parts are located on the fine lines that serve as trackways from south to north and viceversa; even today, shepherds of remote areas still gather for celebration, treaties between countries, etc

'nother words, not all farmers built tombs, many megaliths are far away from good farming ground, if any.

it is also funny to see how the mounds ARE what constitute the border between countries or districts

me too, i am reading After the Ice, I could do without John Lubbock but in general it is ace in its global purpose of reaching the main public and dealing with many of the main sites around the neolithic world

XXX
GP

Haven't they recently found evidence of very early farming around Goeblki Tepe?