On the distinction of pollen grains of early varieties of Hordeum from Glyceria species: addressing the early cereal cultivation problem in palynology

AbstractPollen grains of primitive varieties of Hordeum vulgare collected by the Gene bank of the Crop Research Institute, Prague are compared to pollen of native Glyceria species of the United Kingdom with a view to establishing separation criteria. It is found that a separation of Hordeum vulgare from both Glyceria maxima and Glyceria fluitans is possible according to annular characteristics in combination with grain size as dependent variables. These findings have implications for the identification of cereal-type pollen grains that could be evidence for early cultivation in the Terminal Mesolithic of northwest Europe, and for the use of palynology as a reliable source of palaeobotanical data, particularly in its inland areas. A phase of vegetation disturbance from the pollen site of Dog Hill in the southern Pennine uplands of the United Kingdom (UK), an area with a high density of ‘rod’ microlith flint sites, is introduced as a case example using the above protocol. Here multiple Hordeum-type grains a...