Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Pollen dispersal in traditional processing of buckwheat and its application in agricultural archaeology

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Science China Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Pollen, as an important index of the paleoenvironment and ancient human agricultural activities, is also one of the significant indicators for research on buckwheat agriculture. In order to test buckwheat pollen dispersal during each crop processing stage, we applied traditional processing simulation experiments of buckwheat crops in a modern village, to collect aerial pollen and perform statistical analysis. The result has shown that the distribution of buckwheat pollen in residential areas is closely related to human processing behaviour. Among all the processing procedures, pollen release rate is highest in the threshing and the sieving stages. The redistribution and burial of pollen during crop processing is an important reason for the prominent increase of crop pollen concentration in the cultural layer. Not only can it indicate the cultivation and processing behaviour of humans but also provide a basis for identifying the crop processing remains in archaeological sites and assessing the intensity of agricultural activities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ball T, Chandler-Ezell K, Dickau R, Duncan N, Hart T C, Iriarte J, Lentfer C, Logan A, Lu H, Madella M, Pearsall D M, Piperno D R, Rosen A M, Vrydaghs L, Weisskopf A, Zhang J. 2016. Phytoliths as a tool for investigations of agricultural origins and dispersals around the world. J Archaeol Sci, 68: 32–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bates J. 2011. Social organization and change in the Indus Civilization; phytolith analysis of crop processing aims at Masudpur VII. Biosci Horizons, 4: 1–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bellwood P. 2005. First Farmers: The Origins of Agricultural Societies. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell. 384

    Google Scholar 

  • Bower M. 1992. Cereal pollen dispersal: A pilot study. Cam Arch Jnl, 2: 236–241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cao X Y, Tian F, Xu Q H, Li Y C, Zhang Z Q, Jia H J, Zhang L Y, Wang X L. 2017. Pollen influx and comparison with surface pollen in the east part of Yinshan Mountains (in Chinese). Acta Palaeontol Sin, 46: 411–419

    Google Scholar 

  • Crawford G W. 2006. East Asian plant domestication. In: Stark M T, ed. Archaeology of Asia. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. 77–95

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Dong G H, Yang Y S, Han J Y, Wang H, Chen F H. 2017. Exploring the history of cultural exchange in prehistoric Eurasia from the perspectives of crop diffusion and consumption. Sci China Earth Sci, 60: 1110–1123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuller D Q, Allaby R G, Stevens C. 2010. Domestication as innovation: The entanglement of techniques, technology and chance in the domestication of cereal crops. World Archaeol, 42: 13–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuller D Q, Qin L, Zheng Y, Zhao Z, Chen X, Hosoya L A, Sun G P. 2009. The domestication process and domestication rate in rice: Spikelet bases from the Lower Yangtze. Science, 323: 1607–1610

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuller D Q, Stevens C. 2009. Agriculture and the development of complex societies: An archaeobotanial agenda. In: Fairbairn A S, Weiss E, eds. From Foragers to Farmers: Papers in Honour of Gordon C. Hillman. Oxford: Oxbow Books. 37–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Harvey E L, Fuller D Q. 2005. Investigating crop processing using phytolith analysis: The example of rice and millets. J Archaeol Sci, 32: 739–752

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He K Y, Lu H Y, Zhang J P, Wang C, Huan X J. 2017. Prehistoric evolution of the dualistic structure mixed rice and millet farming in China. Holocene, 27: 1885–1898

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunt H V, Shang X, Jones M K. 2017. Buckwheat: A crop from outside the major Chinese domestication centres? A review of the archaeobotanical, palynological and genetic evidence. Veget Hist Archaeobot, 46: 1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones M, Hunt H, Lightfoot E, Lister D, Liu X, Motuzaite-Matuzeviciute G. 2011. Food globalization in prehistory. World Archaeol, 43: 665–675

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kong Z C, Liu C J, Zhang J Z, Jin G Y. 2003. Plant relics and primitive agriculture at Chinese archaeological sites (in Chinese). Cult Relic Cent Chin, 2: 4–9, 13

    Google Scholar 

  • Kong Z C, Zhang Y, Wang L, Duan X H, Li Y M. 2018. The past, present and future of palynology in China—Concentrate on Quaternary palynology. Chin Sci Bull, 63: 164–171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li J J, Zhang Y, Zhang Y B, Wang L, Jiang H E. 2015. Preliminary studies on the method of wheat processing from Shengjindian cemetery, Turpan in Xinjiang (in Chinese). Quat Sci, 35: 218–228

    Google Scholar 

  • Li W Y. 1998. Quaternary Vegetation and Environment in China (in Chinese). Beijing: Science Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Li X Q. 2013. New progress in the Holocene climate and agriculture research in China. Sci China Earth Sci, 56: 2027–2036

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li X Q, Shang X, Dodson J, Zhou X Y. 2009. Holocene agriculture in the Guanzhong basin in NW China indicated by pollen and charcoal evidence. Holocene, 19: 1213–1220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li X Q, Sun N, Dodson J, Zhou X Y. 2012. Human activity and its impact on the landscape at the Xishanping site in the western Loess Plateau during 4800–4300 cal yr BP based on the fossil charcoal record. J Archaeol Sci, 39: 3141–3147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li X Q, Sun N, Dodson J, Zhou X Y, Zhao K L. 2013. Vegetation characteristics in the western Loess plateau between 5200 and 4300 cal. BP based on fossil charcoal records. Veget Hist Archaeobot, 22: 61–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li X Q, Zhou X Y, Zhou J, Dodson J, Zhang H B, Shang X. 2007. The earliest archaeobiological evidence of the broadening agriculture in China recorded at Xishanping site in Gansu Province. Sci China Ser DEarth Sci, 50: 1707–1714

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li Y C, Xu Q H, Yang X L, Yang Z H. 2005. Pollen assemblages of major steppe communities in China (in Chinese). Acta Ecol Sin, 25: 555–564

    Google Scholar 

  • Li Y Y, Zhang X S, Zhou G S. 2000. Quantitative relationships between vegetation and several pollen taxa in surface soil from North China. Chin Sci Bull, 45: 1519–1523

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li Y Y, Zhou L P, Cui H T. 2008. Pollen indicators of human activity. Chin Sci Bull, 53: 1281–1293

    Google Scholar 

  • Lu H Y. 2017. New methods and progress in research on the origins and evolution of prehistoric agriculture in China. Sci China Earth Sci, 60: 2141–2159

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu H Y, Zhang J P, Liu K B, Wu N Q, Li Y M, Zhou K S, Ye M L, Zhang T Y, Zhang H J, Yang X Y, Shen L C, Xu D K, Li Q. 2009a. Earliest domestication of common millet (Panicum miliaceum) in East Asia extended to 10000 years ago. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 106: 7367–7372

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu H Y, Zhang J P, Wu N Q, Liu K B, Xu D K, Li Q. 2009b. Phytoliths analysis for the discrimination of Foxtail Millet (Setaria italica) and Common Millet (Panicum miliaceum). PLoS ONE, 4: e4448

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ma Z K, Yang X Y, Li Q, Wan Z W, Li M Q, Ge Q S. 2012. Stone knife’s function: Simulation experiment via starch grain analysis (in Chinese). Quat Sci, 32: 247–255

    Google Scholar 

  • Mao L M, Yang X L. 2011. Comparative pollen morphology of 7 species in Stipeae of Poaceae (in Chinese). Acta Micropalaeontol Sin, 28: 169–180

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller N F, Spengler R N, Frachetti M. 2016. Millet cultivation across Eurasia: Origins, spread, and the influence of seasonal climate. Holocene, 26: 1566–1575

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minckley T A, Bartlein P J, Whitlock C, Shuman B N, Williams J W, Davis O K. 2008. Associations among modern pollen, vegetation, and climate in western North America. Quat Sci Rev, 27: 1962–1991

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ni J. 2013. Biomisation and quantitative palaeovegetation reconstruction (in Chinese). Quat Sci, 33: 1091–1100

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearsall D M. 2015. Paleoethnobotany: A Handbook of Procedures. 3rd ed. Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Piperno D R. 2006. Phytoliths: A Comprehensive Guide for Archaeologists and Paleoecologists. Lanham: AltaMira Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Qu X N, Wang H R. 2006. Climate change analysis in Yanchi County of Ningxia since recent 50 years (in Chinese). Ningxia Eng Technol, 5: 321–322

    Google Scholar 

  • Reddy S N. 1997. If the threshing floor could talk: Integration of agriculture and pastoralism during the Late Harappan in Gujarat, India. J Anthropol Archaeol, 16: 162–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shang X, Li X Q. 2010. Holocene vegetation characteristics of the southern Loess Plateau in the Weihe River valley in China. Rev Palaeobot Palynol, 160: 46–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shang X, Li X Q, An Z S, Ji M, Zhang H B. 2009. Modern pollen rain in the Lake Qinghai basin, China. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 52: 1510–1519

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Song J X, Zhao Z J, Fuller D. 2014. The significance of plant archaeology to immature millet and broomcorn millet—Machining experiment of millet’s crop (in Chinese). Cult Relic South Chin, 3: 60–67

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevens C J. 2003. An investigation of agricultural consumption and production models for prehistoric and Roman Britain. Environ Archaeol, 8: 61–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The China Airborne Sensitive Pollen Survey Leading Group. 1991. Chinese Airborne Sensitive Pollen Survey (in Chinese). Beijing: Beijing Publishing House. 36, 58–60, 112–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Tweddle J C, Edwards K J, Fieller N R J. 2005. Multivariate statistical and other approaches for the separation of cereal from wild Poaceae pollen using a large Holocene dataset. Veget Hist Archaeobot, 14: 15–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang X L, Li Y C, Xu Q H, Cao X Y, Zhang L Y, Tian F. 2010. Pollen assemblages from different agricultural units and their spatial distribution in Anyang area. Chin Sci Bull, 55: 544–554

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Webb J A, Moore P D. 1987. Pollen Analysis (in Chinese). Nanning: Guangxi People Publishing House. 1–2

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodbridge J, Fyfe R M, Roberts N, Downey S, Edinborough K, Shennan S. 2014. The impact of the Neolithic agricultural transition in Britain: A comparison of pollen-based land-cover and archaeological 14C dateinferred population change. J Archaeol Sci, 51: 216–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu Y, Wang C S, Cummings L S, Anderson P C. 2012. Study of cutting patterns of plant residues and threshing tools from Heying site of Anhui Province (in Chinese). Sci Conserv Archaeol, 24: 62–66

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu Q H, Cao X Y, Tian F, Zhang S R, Li Y C, Li M Y, Li J, Liu Y L, Liang J. 2014. Relative pollen productivities of typical steppe species in northern China and their potential in past vegetation reconstruction. Sci China Earth Sci, 57: 1254–1266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu Q H, Li M Y, Zhang S R, Zhang Y H, Zhang P P, Lu J Y. 2015. Modern pollen processes of China: Progress and problems (in Chinese). Sci Sin Terrae, 45: 1661–1682

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu Q H, Li Y C, Yang X L, Zheng Z H. 2007. Quantitative relationship between pollen and vegetation in northern China. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 50: 582–599

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu Q H, Tian F, Bunting M J, Li Y C, Ding W, Cao X Y, He Z. 2012. Pollen source areas of lakes with inflowing rivers: Modern pollen influx data from Lake Baiyangdian, China. Quat Sci Rev, 37: 81–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu Q H, Li Y C, Tian F, Cao X Y, Yang X L. 2009. Pollen assemblages of tauber traps and surface soil samples in steppe areas of China and their relationships with vegetation and climate. Rev Palaeobot Palynol, 153: 86–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu Q H, Zhang S R. 2013. Advance in pollen source area (in Chinese). Adv Earth Sci, 28: 968-975

    Google Scholar 

  • Yan W M. 1997. New progress in the study of the origin of rice cultivation in China (in Chinese). Archaeology, 9: 71–76

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang S X, Zheng Z, Huang K Y, Zong Y Q, Wang J H, Xu Q H, Rolett B V, Li J. 2012. Modern pollen assemblages from cultivated rice fields and rice pollen morphology: Application to a study of ancient land use and agriculture in the Pearl River Delta, China. Holocene, 22: 1393–1404

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang Z J, Xu J M. 2002. Advances in studies on relationship among pollen, vegetation and climate (in Chinese). Chin J Plant Ecol, 26(Suppl): 73–81

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Y H, Wen Y, Yao L, Zhang J Z, Zhou Y J, Fang F, Cui W. 2011. Identification and analysis of starch granules on the surface of the slabs from Peiligang Site (in Chinese). Quat Sci, 31: 891–899

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao K L, Li X Q, Zhou X Y, Dodson J, Ji M. 2013. Impact of agriculture on an oasis landscape during the late Holocene: Palynological evidence from the Xintala site in Xinjiang, NW China. Quat Int, 311: 81–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao X Y, Mao L M. 2015. Morphological comparison for pollen exine ultrastructure of four species from Oryza (in Chinese). Acta Palaeontol Sin, 54: 547–555

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao Z J. 2014. The process of origin of agriculture in China: Archaeological evidence from flotation results (in Chinese). Quat Sci, 34: 73–84

    Google Scholar 

  • Zheng Z, Huang K Y, Xu Q H, Lu H Y, Cheddadi R, Luo Y L, Beaudouin C, Luo C X, Zheng Y W, Li C H, Wei J H, Du C B. 2008. Comparison of climatic threshold of geographical distribution between dominant plants and surface pollen in China. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 51: 1107–1120

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Prof. Li Xiaoqiang from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy Sciences, Prof. Jiang Hongen from University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Prof. Martin K. Jones from the University of Cambridge for their helpful discussion work. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41471167 & 41730319), and the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2015CB953803).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China

    Yang Liu, Xue Shang, Pengfei Sheng & Guoding Song

  2. Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Yang Liu, Xue Shang, Pengfei Sheng & Guoding Song

Authors
  1. Yang Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Xue Shang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Pengfei Sheng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Guoding Song
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xue Shang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Liu, Y., Shang, X., Sheng, P. et al. Pollen dispersal in traditional processing of buckwheat and its application in agricultural archaeology. Sci. China Earth Sci. 61, 1792–1803 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-018-9288-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-018-9288-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation