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The first farmers came to Europe 8,000 years ago and spread early agricultural practices, starting in Greece.

But Northern Europeans during the Neolithic period, initially rejected the practice of farming, which was spreading throughout the rest of the continent, researchers claim.

Their findings show a bump in the road in the adoption of farming, which enabled groups of people to move away from foraging and hunting as a means for survival and sparked a 'major economic revolution'.

Experts from Centre for International Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences (CIRHUS) in New York City studied neolithic ornaments (pictured) to understand how farming spread. These beads are examples of personal ornaments worn by the first European farming societies

'This discovery goes beyond farming,' said Solange Rigaud, the study's lead author and a researcher at the Centre for International Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences (CIRHUS) in New York City.

'It also reveals two different cultural trajectories that took place in Europe thousands of years ago, with southern and central regions advancing in many ways and northern regions maintaining their traditions'.

To come to their conclusion, the researchers looked at the adoption or rejection of ornamental beads or bracelets worn by different populations in the Early Neolithic period, which stretched from 8,000 to 5,000 BC.

Based on discoveries of different types of Neolithic ornaments in different parts of Europe, they concluded that Northern Europeans in the Neolithic period initially rejected the practice of farming, which was otherwise spreading throughout the continent. Examples of ornaments worn by European foraging societies are shown

Previous studies have shown a link between the embrace of survival methods and the adoption of particular ornaments, so by looking at the ornaments, the experts were able to understand the spread of farming practices for the first time.

They examined some 200 bead-type objects found at more than 400 European sites over a 3,000-year period, tracing the adoption of ornaments linked to farming populations in order to explain the patterns of transition from foraging and hunting to farming.

They found that the pathways of the spread of farming over 3,000 years, are less clear than previously thought.

They found ornaments linked to farmers, such as human-shaped beads and bracelets composed of perforated shells, from eastern Greece and the Black Sea to France's Brittany region and from the Mediterranean Sea northward to Spain.

But the researchers did not find these types of ornaments in the Baltic region of northern Europe, according to the study, published in the journal Plos One.

This area held on to decorative wear typically used by hunting and foraging populations, such as perforated shells rather than beads or bracelets found in farming communities.

Dr Rigaud explained: 'It's clear hunters and foragers in the Baltic area resisted the adoption of ornaments worn by farmers during this period.

'We've therefore concluded that this cultural boundary reflected a block in the advancement of farming - at least during the Neolithic period.'

Their findings show a bump in the road of the adoption of farming, which enabled groups of people to move away from foraging and hunting as a means for survival and sparked a 'major economic revolution'. A stock image of a Neolithic hut, which may have been used by early farmers in modern day France, is shown