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Vegetation History and Archaeobotany (2018) 27:635–648
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-018-0678-7
REVIEW
Cannabis is indigenous to Europe and cultivation began
during the Copper or Bronze age: a probabilistic synthesis of fossil
pollen studies
John M. McPartland
1,2
· Georey W. Guy
2
· William Hegman
3
Received: 22 October 2017 / Accepted: 9 April 2018 / Published online: 5 May 2018
© Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018
Abstract
Conventional wisdom states Cannabis sativa originated in Asia and its dispersal to Europe depended upon human transport.
Various Neolithic or Bronze age groups have been named as pioneer cultivators. These theses were tested by examining
fossil pollen studies (FPSs), obtained from the European Pollen Database. Many FPSs report Cannabis or Humulus (C/H)
with collective names (e.g. Cannabis/Humulus or Cannabaceae). To dissect these aggregate data, we used ecological prox-
ies to differentiate C/H pollen, as follows: unknown C/H pollen that appeared in a pollen assemblage suggestive of steppe
(Poaceae, Artemisia, Chenopodiaceae) we interpreted as wild-type Cannabis. C/H pollen in a mesophytic forest assemblage
(Alnus, Salix, Populus) we interpreted as Humulus. C/H pollen curves that upsurged and appeared de novo alongside crop
pollen grains we interpreted as cultivated hemp. FPSs were mapped and compared to the territories of archaeological cul-
tures. We analysed 479 FPSs from the Holocene/Late Glacial, plus 36 FPSs from older strata. The results showed C/H pol-
len consistent with wild-type C. sativa in steppe and dry tundra landscapes throughout Europe during the early Holocene,
Late Glacial, and previous glaciations. During the warm and wet Holocene Climactic Optimum, forests replaced steppe,
and Humulus dominated. Cannabis retreated to steppe refugia. C/H pollen consistent with cultivated hemp first appeared in
the Pontic-Caspian steppe refugium. GIS mapping linked cultivation with the Copper age Varna/Gumelniţa culture, and the
Bronze age Yamnaya and Terramara cultures. An Iron age steppe culture, the Scythians, likely introduced hemp cultivation
to Celtic and Proto-Slavic cultures.
Keywords Cannabis sativa · Humulus lupulus · European Pollen Database · Europe · GIS · Pleistocene · Holocene
Introduction
Linnaeus (1737) knew Cannabis sativa as a cultivated plant
in Europe, so he assumed its centre of origin (CoO) was
elsewhere. He suggested a CoO in India Orientali (encom-
passing the Indian subcontinent, southeastern Asia, and the
Malay Archipelago), Japonia (Japan), or Malabaria (the
Malabar coast of southwest India). Most scholars concur
with de Candolle (1883) who offered Central Asia as the
CoO of C. sativa. He collated linguistic, historical, archaeo-
logical, and palaeontological data, as well as “in what coun-
try it grows spontaneously and without the help of man”. He
proposed that C. sativa expanded to Europe under the aegis
of human transport around 1500
bce
, and he implicated the
Scythians.
Some botanists placed the CoO of C. sativa in Europe
(Thiébault de Berneaud 1835; Keppen 1886), or a CoO
spanning Asia and Europe (Herder 1892; Vavilov 1926).
Communicated by F. Bittmann.
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this
article (https ://doi.org/10.1007/s0033 4-018-0678-7) contains
supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
* John M. McPartland
mcpruitt@myfairpoint.net
1
University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA
2
GW Pharmaceuticals, Sovereign House, Histon,
Cambridge CB24 9BZ, UK
3
Department of Geography, Middlebury College, Middlebury,
VT 05753, USA
@Phil_Robichaud
@deepthiw
@JoseServera