Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Cannabis is indigenous to Europe and cultivation began during the Copper or Bronze age: a probabilistic synthesis of fossil pollen studies

Cannabis is indigenous to Europe and cultivation began during the Copper or Bronze age: a... 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 proxies 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 cultures. We analysed 479 FPSs from the Holocene/Late Glacial, plus 36 FPSs from older strata. The results showed C/H pollen 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. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Vegetation History and Archaeobotany Springer Journals

Cannabis is indigenous to Europe and cultivation began during the Copper or Bronze age: a probabilistic synthesis of fossil pollen studies

Download PDF
14 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/springer_journal/cannabis-is-indigenous-to-europe-and-cultivation-began-during-the-XTlSoz0FHO
Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2018 by Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature
Subject
Earth Sciences; Paleontology; Biogeosciences; Climate Change; Anthropology; Archaeology
ISSN
0939-6314
eISSN
1617-6278
DOI
10.1007/s00334-018-0678-7
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

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 proxies 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 cultures. We analysed 479 FPSs from the Holocene/Late Glacial, plus 36 FPSs from older strata. The results showed C/H pollen 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.

Journal

Vegetation History and Archaeobotany – Springer Journals

Published: May 5, 2018

References

  • Flora Europaea, vol 1: Psilotaceae to Platanaceae
    Akeroyd, JR
  • Past and future range shifts and loss of diversity in dwarf willow (Salix herbacea L.) inferred from genetics, fossils and modeling
    Alsos, IG; Alm, T; Norman, S; Brochmann, C
  • Anthropological approaches to zooarchaeology
    Bartosiewicz, L; Gál, E
  • Holocene shore displacement and chronology in Angermanland, eastern Sweden, the Scandinavian glacio-isostatic uplift centre
    Berglund, M
  • Vegetation of Eurasia from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present: key biogeographic patterns
    Binney, H; Edwards, M; Macias-Fauria, M
  • Dynamics of the range of Artemisia genus over the territory of Western Siberia and adjacent regions in Holocene in connection with climate change on the basis of pollen data
    Blyakharchuk, TA; Amel’chenko, VP
  • Neolithic farming in central Europe
    Bogaard, A
  • Spatial and temporal regularities in the evolution of vegetation and climate of North Eurasia in the Neopleistocene
    Bolikhovskaya, NS
  • A companion to ancient Thrace
    Braund, D
  • Late-glacial and Holocene European pollen data
    Brewer, S; Giesecke, T; Davis, BAS
  • The Scythian influence in the area of Lusatian culture
    Bukowski, Z
  • A late quaternary pollen dataset from eastern continental Asia for vegetation and climate reconstructions: set up and evaluation
    Cao, XY; Ni, JA; Herzschuh, U
  • Paleoetnobotanica. Studii în preistoria şi protoistoria României
    Cârciumaru, M
  • Cannabis evolution and ethnobotany
    Clarke, RC; Merlin, MD
  • Evolution, systematics, and fossil history of the hamamelidae, vol 2
    Collinson, ME
  • A promethean legacy: late quaternary vegetation history of southern Georgia, Caucasus
    Conner, SE
  • Founder effect, drift, and adaptive change in domestic crop use in early Neolithic Europe
    Conolly, J; Colledge, S; Shennan, S
  • The refined Quaternary Stratigraphic Scale of the Fore-Urals and main events in southern Urals Region
    Danukalova, GA
  • Origine des Plantes Cultivées
    Candolle, AP
  • Impact of the Environment on Human Migration in Eurasia
    Dirksen, VG; Geel, B
  • Die Geschichte des Hanfanbaus in Mitteleuropa aufgrund palynologischer Untersuchungen und von Großrestnachweisen
    Dörfler, W
  • Migration patterns of subgenus Alnus in Europe since the Last Glacial Maximum: a systematic review
    Douda, J; Doudová, J; Drašnarová, A
  • Palynological evidence for the growing of Cannabis sativa L. (hemp) in medieval and historical Scotland
    Edwards, KJ; Whittington, G
  • The extent and chronology of Cenozoic global glaciation
    Ehlers, J; Gibbard, PL
  • The vegetation history of the Umeå area during the past 4000years
    Engelmark, R
  • Southern European glacial refugia: a tale of tales
    Feliner, GN
  • Der pollenanalytische Nachweis des Getreideanbaus
    Firbas, F
  • Physical evidence for the antiquity of Cannabis sativa L
    Fleming, MP; Clarke, RC
  • Deforestation, Cannabis cultivation and schwingmoor formation at Cors Llyn (Llyn Mire), Central Wales
    French, CN; Moore, PD
  • Vegetationsutveckling och odlingshistoria i Varnhemstrakten: en pollenanalytisk undersökning i Västergötland
    Fries, M
  • Studies of the sediments and the vegetational history in the Ösbysjön basin, north of Stockholm
    Fries, M
  • Ein eisenzeitliches Rad aus dem Filaren-See in Södermanland, Schweden
    Fröman, I
  • Agricultural origins and frontiers in South Asia: a working synthesis
    Fuller, DQ
  • Der Goldfund von Vettersfelde
    Furtwängler, A
  • The cultural landscape—past, present and future
    Gaillard, MJ; Berglund, BE
  • Towards mapping the late quaternary vegetation change of Europe
    Giesecke, T; Davis, B; Brewer, S
  • Pollen analytic evidence for the cultivation of Cannabis in England
    Godwin, B
  • Biological remains from a medieval ‘pond’ at Higher Lane, Fazakerley, north Liverpool, Merseyside (site code FAZ94)
    Hall, A; Kenward, H; Large, F
  • Plantae Raddeanae apetalae V
    Herder, FG
  • The landmark Herodotus: the histories
    Herodotus
  • Numerical analysis of modern and fossil pollen spectra as a tool for elucidating the nature of fine-scale human activities in boreal areas
    Hicks, S; Birks, HJB
  • An atlas of past and present pollen maps for Europe: 0–13,000years ago
    Huntley, B; Birks, HJB
  • Late Miocene flora from SE Bulgaria: vegetation, landscape and climate reconstruction
    Ivanov, DA; Bozukov, VS; Koleva-Rekalova, EK
  • Chloroplast DNA phylogeography of Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn
    King, RA; Ferris, C
  • A comparison of early Neolithic crop and weed assemblages from the Linearbandkeramik and the Bulgarian Neolithic cultures: differences and similarities
    Kreuz, A; Marinova, E; Schäfer, E; Wiethold, J
  • Detection of the impact of early Holocene hunter-gatherers on vegetation in the Czech Republic using multivariate analysis of pollen data
    Kuneš, P; Pokorný, P; Šída, P
  • Encyclopédie Méthodique
    Lamarck, JB
  • Late quaternary vegetation and climate changes inferred from a pollen record of Dongyuan Lake in southern Taiwan
    Lee, CY; Liew, PM
  • Plants growing on the walls of Italian towns. 2: Reproductive ecology
    Lisci, M; Pacini, E
  • Artemisia pollen-indicated steppe distribution in southern China during the Last Glacial Maximum
    Liu, HY; Liu, K; Wei, FL
  • Cannabis in Eurasia: origin of human use and Bronze age trans-continental connections
    Long, TW; Wagner, M; Demske, D
  • First fossil evidence of an “interglacial refugium” in the Pyrenean region
    López-García, JM; Blain, HA; Allué, E
  • Palynological studies in the western arm of lake superior
    Maher, LJ
  • Models of Cannabis taxonomy, cultural bias, and conflicts between scientific and vernacular names
    McPartland, JM; Guy, GW
  • Cannabis utilization and diffusion patterns in prehistoric Europe: a critical analysis of archaeological evidence
    McPartland, JM; Hegman, W
  • The vix burial
    Megaw, JVS
  • The long history of Cannabis and its cultivation by the Romans in central Italy, shown by pollen records from Lago Albano and Lago di Nemi
    Mercuri, AM; Accorsi, CA; Mazzanti, MB
  • Palaeovegetation in China during the late quaternary: Biome reconstructions based on a global scheme of plant functional types
    Ni, J; Yu, G; Harrison, SP; Prentice, IC
  • Неогенската карпофлора на Мелнишкия басейн
    Palamarev, E
  • The development of the cultural landscape around Diss Mere, Norfolk, UK, during the past 7000years
    Peglar, SM
  • Deconstructing the concept of Subneolithic farming in the southeastern Baltic
    Piličiauskas, G; Kisielienė, D; Piličiauskas, G
  • Mid-Holocene bottleneck for central European dry grasslands: did steppe survive the forest optimum in northern Bohemia. Czech Republic?
    Pokorný, P; Chytrý, M; Juřičková, L
  • Reconstructing biomes from palaeoecological data: a general method and its application to European pollen data at 0 and 6 ka
    Prentice, IC; Guiot, J; Huntley, B
  • Cannabaceae, Moraceae and Urticaceae
    Punt, W; Malotaux, M
  • De cellulis antherarum fibrosis, nec non de granorum pollinarium formis commentatio phytotomico
    Purkyně, JE
  • Lake Gościąż, central Poland. A monographic study, Part 1
    Ralska-Jasiewiczowa, M; Geel, B
  • Comment on van Geel et al. J Archaeol Sci 31 (2004) “Climate change and the expansion of the Scythian culture after 850 bc: a hypothesis”
    Riehl, S; Pustovoytov, K
  • Šventoji I: Narvos kultūros gyvenvietės
    Rimantienė, R
  • Neolithic hunter-gathers at Šventoji in Lithuania
    Rimantienė, R
  • Der wilde Hanf als Ruderalpflanze Mitteleuropas
    Scholz, H
  • Die Pflanzenwelt Norwegens. Ein Beitrag zur Natur-und Culturgeschichte Nord-Europas
    Schübeler, FC
  • Flora Carniolica, Tom. II
    Scopoli, GA
  • A practical and natural taxonomy for Cannabis
    Small, E; Cronquist, A
  • Last Glacial Maximum biomes reconstructed from pollen and plant macrofossil data from northern Eurasia
    Tarasov, PE; Volkova, VS; Webb, T
  • Dictionnaire pittorosque d’histoire naturelle et des phénomènes de la nature, Tome 2
    Thiébaut de Berneaud, A
  • Climate change and the expansion of the Scythian culture after 850 bc: a hypothesis
    Geel, B; Bokovenko, NA; Burova, ND
  • Increased Cannabis/Humulus pollen, an indicator of European agriculture in Iowa
    Zant, KL; Webb, T; Peterson, GM
  • Formal subdivision of the Holocene Series/Epoch: a discussion paper by a working group of INTIMATE (Integration of ice-core, marine and terrestrial records) and the subcommission on quaternary stratigraphy
    Walker, MJC; Berkelhammer, M; Björck, S
  • Problems in the interpretation of Cannabaceae pollen in the stratigraphic record
    Whittington, G; Edwards, KJ
  • The differentiation of the pollen of Cannabis sativa L. from that of Humulus lupulus L
    Whittington, G; Gordon, AD
  • Kilconquhar Loch, Fife: an historical and palynological investigation
    Whittington, G; Jarvis, J
  • Plant remains from the Graveney boat and the early history of Humulus lupulus L. in W. Europe
    Wilson, DG
  • Elemental carbon record of paleofire history on the Chinese Loess Plateau during the last 420 ka and its response to environmental and climate changes
    Zhou, B; Shen, CD; Sun, WD