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

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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.

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Acknowledgements

Felix Bittmann, Anna Maria Mercuri, Mark Merlin, and two anonymous reviewers greatly improved this manuscript with their suggestions. Funding was provided by GW Pharmaceuticals.

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Correspondence to John M. McPartland.

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Communicated by F. Bittmann.

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Online Resource 1. Extended methods

. Inclusion criteria with a critique of pollen threshold percentages, morphological methods of pollen identification, phytosociological studies of C. sativa and H. lupulus, AP/NAP ratios and pollen signals indicative of crop cultivation, methods of data extraction and binning for algorithm application (PDF 985 KB)

Online Resource 2. Maps

. This file contains nine maps. Map S1: Locations of 479 fossil pollen studies, plotted on a map of Europe. Maps S2-9: Territories of archaeological cultures (PDF 10080 KB)

Online Resource 3. Tables

. This file contains three Tables. Table S1: Fossil pollen studies with C-H pollen from the Late Glacial and Holocene. Table S2: Fossil pollen studies excluded from analysis. Table S3: Fossil pollen studies predating 18.5 kya (PDF 1319 KB)

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McPartland, J.M., Guy, G.W. & Hegman, W. Cannabis is indigenous to Europe and cultivation began during the Copper or Bronze age: a probabilistic synthesis of fossil pollen studies. Veget Hist Archaeobot 27, 635–648 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-018-0678-7

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