  The introduction and emergence of agriculture into Eastern North America
(ENA) and Europe proceeded very differently in both subcontinents: it varied in
timing, speed, and mechanism. Common to both regions, agricultural subsistence
profited from the introduction of major staple crops which had been
domesticated elsewhere; in both regions, the temperate climate and originally
predominant forest vegetation provided an environmental context conducive to
agriculture. To understand the different paths to agricultural subsistence, an
integrated view of technological innovation, domestication and exchange of
domesticates, migration and trade is required within the constraints imposed by
the environmental context and geography. This study makes use of a numerical
model of regional socio-technological evolution which builds on adaptation of
important characteristics of prehistoric societies such as technology and
subsistence diversity. With this Global Land Use and Technological Evolution
Simulator (GLUES), regional transitions from foraging to agropastoralism, and
associated land use and demographic changes are realistically hindcasted. I
show that the model is capable of explaining the different timing, speed, and
transition mechanisms: Europe received a large package of foreign domesticates
and converted rapidly to agriculture, this fast transition can be best
explained with demic and cultural diffusion followed by fast adoption by
resident foragers. In contrast, ENA trajectories show a more gradual
transition. Hunting-gathering and agropastoral life style coexisted for a long
time and agriculture was adopted slowly into the existing subsistence scheme.
