On the distinction of pollen grains of early varieties of Hordeum from Glyceria species: addressing the early cereal cultivation problem in palynology

Abstract

Pollen grains of primitive varieties of Hordeum vulgare collected by the Gene Bank of the Crop Research Institute, Prague, are compared to pollen of native Glyceria species of the United Kingdom with a view to establishing separation criteria. It is found that a separation of Hordeum vulgare from both Glyceria maxima and Glyceria fluitans is possible according to annular characteristics in combination with grain size as dependent variables. These findings have implications for the identification of cereal-type pollen grains that could be evidence for early cultivation in the Terminal Mesolithic of north-west Europe, and for the use of palynology as a reliable source of palaeobotanical data, particularly in its inland areas. A phase of vegetation disturbance from the pollen site of Dog Hill in the southern Pennine uplands of the UK, an area with a high density of ‘rod’ microlith flint sites, is introduced as a case example using the above protocol. Here, multiple Hordeum-type grains are encountered alongside prominent pollen indicators of disturbance, but also including non-pollen palynomorphs and microcharcoal data, at a date well before the mid-Holocene decline in Ulmus pollen frequencies that is often regarded as marking the beginning of the Neolithic. Confident identification of cereal-type pollen will greatly assist the understanding of the introduction of cultivation and the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in north-west Europe. The objective of this study is to show the utility of this palynology with respect to defining the ecology of early cultivation in UK uplands.

Keywords:

• Early cultivation
• Glyceria maxima
• Glyceria fluitans
• Hordeum vulgare
• pollen morphology
• rod microlith sites

Acknowledgements

Palynological research at Dog Hill was funded by the Leverhulme Trust, London, UK (project F/00128/BD). Radiocarbon dating was carried out at the SUERC Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory, Glasgow, UK. We acknowledge the kind assistance of Vojtech Holubec of the Gene Bank, Crop Research Institute, Prague, and John Durkin of the Botanical Society of the British Isles in the collection of materials. Finally, we are grateful to the Design and Imaging Unit, Durham University, UK, for the figures.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bruce M. Albert

BRUCE ALBERT was a Postdoctoral Research Assistant (PDRA) at the Department of Archaeology, University of Durham, engaged in the Nebelivka Megasite Project in Ukraine. Prior appointments include the Czech Life Sciences University, Department of Ecology, and the University of Texas at Austin Geo-archaeology Laboratory, with a special focus on early farming in Eastern Europe as well as alluvial palynology in the Old and New World including work in Texas and North Mexico.

James B. Innes

JAMES INNES is a retired Experimental Officer and Lecturer in Physical Geography in the Department of Geography, Durham University, UK, where he obtained his PhD in 1989 on the fine-resolution palynology of mid-Holocene blanket peats on the North York Moors in north-east England. He has held research and lecturing posts at the University of Liverpool and at Queen Mary College, University of London. He has worked on vegetation history in North America and China, and the main focus of his research is on human–environmental relations in the British Mesolithic and the transition to the Neolithic.