How did the emergence of farming 6000 years ago in western Europe change the relationship between humans and wild animals? WILDERFARM, an ERC-funded project, investigates this question through a cross-regional and transdisciplinary approach.

Research questions

The WILDERFARM project explores the significant changes in human-wildlife relationships that occurred with the rise of farming in western Europe between 6000 and 2000 BCE. Up until now, research on this period has focused strongly on the domestication of animals and plants and the emergence of the new relationship between humans and domesticates. WILDERFARM shifts the perspective, examining how farmers renegotiated the age-old relationship with wild animals and how the rise of farming and its activities, such as livestock grazing and crop husbandry, affected wildlife.