Ice sheet linked to spread of farming
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The collapse more than 8,000 years ago of the Laurentide Ice Sheet covering much of what is now North America triggered worldwide flooding that may have driven the spread of agriculture throughout Europe.
Ocean levels rose nearly 5 feet, flooding what is now the Black Sea and causing it to spill into the Mediterranean, British researchers reported Monday in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews. The flooded area covered more than 28,000 square miles of land, forcing an estimated 145,000 farmers in the Balkans to migrate west, taking their farming skills with them.
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