In the early nineteenth century, at least four-fifths of Europeans lived in small towns and villages or on individual farmsteads, where the majority engaged, as their ancestors had since Neolithic times, in farming characterized by generally low land and labor productivity. Aristocrats, urban residents, religious institutions, and others not directly involved in agricultural production owned a great deal of land and received much of the agrarian surplus. Artisans who worked in their homes or small shops using hand-powered tools made most manufactured goods.