Description: The paper presents the result of analysis of charred food on the interior part of the vessels from the graves of the East Manych and West Manych Catacomb archaeological cultures (2500–2350 cal bc ). The phytolith and pollen analyses identified pollen of wild steppe plants and phytoliths of domesticated gramineous plants determined as barley phytoliths. Direct 14 С dating of one of the samples demonstrates that barley spikelets and stems were used in funeral rites by local steppe communities. However, there are no data suggesting that steppe inhabitants of the Lower Don Region were engaged in agriculture in the mid-3000 bc . Supposedly, barley could have reached the steppes through seasonal migrations of mobile pastoralists to the south, use of North Caucasus grasslands in the economic system of seasonal moves and exchange with local people. Nevertheless, presence of carbonized barley seeds in the occupation layers at North Caucasus settlements of 4000–3000  bc requires confirmation by direct 14 С dating of such samples.

Description: The initial relationships between the first human colonizers and the native vegetation of Isla San Cristóbal, Galápagos, were studied by the analyses of wood charcoal, plant macro-remains, phytoliths and historical records. Archaeological and modern botanical samples were collected from four archaeological sites within the former farmland of the 19th century Hacienda El Progreso, a sugar plantation located in the moist highlands of the island. The archaeobotanical remains show the use of native timber, the introduction of crops and weeds, some aspects of local diet, and evidence of vegetation clearance. Ecological impact is shown by the changes to the native vegetation caused by human colonization of the island and the expansion of agricultural land for the plantation enterprise. This paper provides a synthesis of the archaeobotanical study at El Progreso which forms a baseline for future research in the Galápagos islands.

Description: Plant domestication is a complex process in which natural and cultural factors play important roles delimiting evolutionary pathways of plants under cultivation. In order to deal with and understand the changes generated during this process, multi-disciplinary research is required, especially when a full picture of the domestication history of a taxon is to be assessed. We present here some advances in the study of Cucurbita maxima (squash) domestication from an integrated perspective, including experimental, morphometric and archaeobotanical approaches, which are discussed in the light of new data from physiological analyses. Modern material includes plants obtained from experimental fields, derived from crosses between domesticated ( C. maxima ssp. maxima ) and spontaneous/wild forms ( C. maxima ssp. andreana ), resulting in F1 and F2 generations. The archaeobotanical material includes remains recovered from sites in southern Peru and northwest Argentina ranging in date from 3,000 to 800 bp . Morphological and anatomical analyses were conducted on seeds, pericarps and peduncles (the stem of the flower or fruit) for reconstructing squash size and shape evolution under domestication. The results suggest the presence of hybrid forms, mainly from the earlier sites, but also from more recent ones. As expected, a linear evolutionary pathway was not found. Diversity and multiple crossings seem to have been a constant in squash cultivation over time, emphasising the role of gene flows between domestic and wild variants in the domestication process. Finally, we hypothesize the possible linkage between past gene flow and different dormancy patterns as part of management practices, allowing the maintenance of squash populations adapted to different environmental conditions.

Description: Until recently the plant economy of the Northern European Bronze Age was only investigated locally or within modern boundaries. New results from the project “Settlements of the Bronze Age” by the Academy of Science and Literature Mainz allow us to now fill part of the remaining gaps in research. Summarizing all available data concerning the plant economy of the Northern European Bronze Age has shown that it constitutes a time of innovation and continuous change. In addition to the omnipresent Triticum dicoccum (emmer) and Hordeum vulgare (barley), this period is marked by the emergence of various new cultivars like T. spelta (spelt) or Camelina sativa (gold-of-pleasure). A comparison between the cereal spectra from several regions in Northern Germany and Scandinavia revealed differences and similarities which allowed for the reconstruction of multiple possible contact zones and various influences from adjacent cultures. Northern Germany and especially Schleswig–Holstein served as an important link for trading over land and by water between the southern areas and Scandinavia. The rising diversity of crop plants in the Late Bronze Age, which is for the first time comparable to the southern regions, reflects the increased trade and therefore stronger influence from beyond the Northern European Bronze Age, which resulted in an accelerated assimilation of innovations and new technologies.

Description: We review the history of Quaternary pollen analysis from 1916 to the present-day, with particular emphasis on methodological and conceptual developments and on the early pioneers of the subject. The history is divided into three phases—the pioneer phase 1916–1950, the building phase 1951–1973, and the mature phase 1974–present-day. We also explore relevant studies prior to Lennart von Post’s seminal lecture in 1916 in Kristiania (Oslo) in an attempt to trace how the idea of Quaternary pollen analysis with quantitative pollen counting and stratigraphical pollen diagrams developed.

Description: The reaction of vegetation to past climate change provides important insights for vegetation responses to future climate change. A key problem for projections into the future is obtaining estimates of the rates at which plants are able to spread as their environment changes. To address this uncertainty, we review the palaeoecological and phylogeographic literature to estimate the range of observed rates of spread for the major European trees and discuss aspects of their postglacial spread. The review is illustrated with isochrone maps depicting the time when particular thresholds in pollen proportion were reached in pollen diagrams available from the European Pollen Database. We find that rates of at least 1,000 m year −1 were realised by early colonisers including Corylus and Ulmus , while trees spreading later into established woodlands, e.g. Quercus and Tilia , achieved rates of around 500 m year −1 . Phylogeographic investigations are available for most of the abundant European trees, often indicating that populations in the central and southern parts of the three south European peninsulas were not the origins for the postglacial colonization of central and northern Europe. In some cases, the results of these studies clearly show the direction of postglacial spread, while generally providing new information to help in interpreting pollen data. Phylogeographic results for Alnus suggest that the high apparent rates of postglacial spread are due to an initial spread at low population density and a later expansion. This decoupling between spread and population expansion is also seen for late expanding trees such as Picea, Fagus and Carpinus . Here, population expansion was probably not delayed by dispersal, but by a limiting climate as assumed by von Post. While the late Holocene expansion of Picea and Fagus in Sweden was important as a dating tool in the development of pollen analysis by von Post 100 years ago, we remain unable to determine which particular driver caused the late expansion of these two trees.

Description: Quantification of vegetation cover from pollen analysis has been a goal of palynologists since the advent of the method in 1916 by the great Lennart von Post. Pollen-based research projects are becoming increasingly ambitious in scale, and the emergence of spatially extensive open-access datasets, advanced methods and computer power has facilitated sub-continental analysis of Holocene pollen data. This paper presents results of one such study, focussing on the Mediterranean basin. Pollen data from 105 fossil sequences have been extracted from the European Pollen database, harmonised by both taxonomy and chronologies, and subjected to a hierarchical agglomerative clustering method to synthesise the dataset into 16 main groupings. A particular focus of analysis was to describe the common transitions from one group to another to understand pathways of Holocene vegetation change in the Mediterranean. Two pollen-based indices of human impact (OJC: Oleaceae, Juglans, Castanea ; API: anthropogenic pollen indicators) have been used to infer the degree of human modification of vegetation within each pollen grouping. Pollen-inferred cluster groups that are interpreted as representing more natural vegetation states show a restricted number of pathways of change. A set of cluster groups were identified that closely resemble anthropogenically-disturbed vegetation, and might be considered anthromes (anthopogenic biomes). These clusters show a very wide set of potential pathways, implying that all potential vegetation communities identified through this analysis have been altered in response to land exploitation and transformation by human societies in combination with other factors, such as climatic change. Future work to explain these ecosystem pathways will require developing complementary datasets from the social sciences and humanities (archaeology and historical sources), along with synthesis of the climatic records from the region.

Description: This paper reviews vegetation and climate reconstructions for different time scales based on palynological studies in China. It discusses examples of significant developments in palynological research topics within China: (1) Modern pollen—a modern pollen database (East Asia Surface Pollen Database) has been established through the collaboration of Chinese palynologists. Based on these data, modern pollen distributions and their quantitative relationship with vegetation and climate have been thoroughly studied. (2) Pre-Quaternary vegetation and climate dynamics—scientists have mapped pollen and palaeobotanical data from the Palaeogene. The vegetation distributions confirm a north–south zonal pattern during the Palaeogene that changed to an east–west monsoonal pattern during the Miocene and Pliocene. These results provide key evidence for understanding monsoon evolution. (3) Late-Quaternary vegetation—biome reconstructions based on fossil pollen data show spatial and temporal changes in vegetation since the Last Glacial Maximum, permitting a better understanding of climate change across China. (4) Quantitative climate reconstructions—some reconstructions have successfully detected Holocene climate variability thereby providing insights into monsoon history. At present, there are no comprehensive spatial reconstructions. Major possible future developments should focus on: (1) long-term vegetation reconstructions from lakes to study Asian monsoon dynamics at orbital scales; (2) quantitative reconstructions of vegetation and climate change to help stronger integration with palaeoclimate models and dynamic vegetation models; (3) land-cover and land-use change across China over the last 6,000 years to understand human impacts and provide empirical data for climate modellers; and (4) integration of pollen data with vegetation and climate modelling to understand the CO 2 -vegetation relationship and climate dynamics.