Interpreting the source and significance of crop pollen in archaeological sites has always been a key issue in environmental and agricultural archaeology. With regards to this, the research team of Dr. Shang Xue from the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, recently conducted a simulation study on the dispersal pattern of pollen in the traditional processing of buckwheat.
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| Pollens in the samples of buckwheat processing (400 times)(a) (b) Fagopyrum; (c) Artemisia; (d) Chenopodiaceae [Credit: Science China Press] |
Pollen, as an important index of agricultural archaeology, can be used to indicate the history of paleoenvironment change and ancient human agricultural activities. To date, the study of pollen dispersal is limited to the analysis of pollen rain in nature and in surface soil of farmland. The influence of the agricultural processing on pollen dispersal is rarely considered, became a handicap for a better understanding of the source and representation of crop pollen in archaeological sites.
As a kind of pseudocereal, buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum and F. tataricum) are short-season crops with drought-tolerant and barren-resistant features. Plant of buckwheat is widely cultivated and utilized in the world because of its low workforce requirements, wide geographical adaptability, strong resistance, and rich nutrient content.
Studies have suggested that buckwheat may have been domesticated on the edge of its wild ancestral distribution area in southwestern China. Later it was transmitted to the northern part, and then adapted to the arid environment, becoming a pan-Eurasian crop approximately 3000 BP.
Pollen of buckwheat is unique in shape. As a kind of cross-pollinated pollen, it has large grains, close propagation distance, small distribution area, as well as low representation. Therefore, there will be a clear indication about its source and relationship with the maternal plant region when the pollen grains of buckwheat were discovered. According to the above merits, the research on buckwheat pollen has been received much attention.
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| The mean value and average percentage of buckwheat pollen released from pollen rain in different processing stages [Credit: Science China Press] |
On this basis, researchers examined pollen dispersal in the buckwheat traditional processing. Aerial pollen collection method was applied to collect pollen rains at various processing stages. Furthermore, the surface soil pollen analysis of buckwheat field and barren land, and the data on aerial pollen rain in the surrounding area were selected as control groups.
The result has shown that the content of buckwheat pollen in aerial pollen rain can reach more than 70% during the traditional processing, among which, the pollen release amount was the largest in the threshing and sieving stages, followed by the wind winnowing and harvesting stage.
Thus, the processing behavior of crops has a significant impact on the distribution of crop pollen in residential areas. The results can help us interpret the distribution patterns and contribution rates of pollen during buckwheat processing. A high proportion of crop pollen can indicate not only the cultivation behavior, but also the processing behavior of humans. This research provides a scientific and experimental basis for identifying the crop processing remains in archaeological sites as well as assessing the intensity and impact of agricultural activities.
As a basic research, this research provides new concepts for the application of crop pollen dispersal in agricultural archaeology and new findings on buckwheat pollen research, which has certain interdisciplinary and scientific significance.
The research paper has been published online in Science China: Earth Sciences.
Source: Science China Press [December 13, 2018]
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