demic diffusion

[Th]

A model developed by Ammerman and Cavalli‐Sforza in the 1970s to account for the spread of the Neolithic package of ideas and material culture across Europe based on two factors: a rising population and random patterns of local migration. The two together create a ‘wave of advance’ that differs from colonization because the movements are not intentional, while standing apart from diffusion in the normal archaeological usage because movements of population are certainly involved.