Distinguishing pollen grains of cereal from wild grasses in the Sundaland region using size separation

Agricultural practices in India during the Holocene: A pollen view point and a critical appraisal

“…In the present study, in the Indian context, however, the pollen grain size ranging between 35 and 40 µm has been taken to specify wild grasses (Poaceae) and >40 µm diameter to cultivated grains (Cerealia, Cerealia-type or Cereal Poaceae). Behre (2007) and Lahtinen and Rowley-Conwy ( 2013), furthermore, suggested that the presence of agriculture should be inferred based on the continuous occurrence of Cerealia pollen, rather than the presence of single or scattered grain (Hapsari and Ballauff, 2022), but was later modified by the finding of charred single grain of naked barley (Hordeum vulgare) (Josefsson et al, 2014;Viklund, 2011). Furthermore, such cereal-based suggestion does not necessarily imply any cereal domestication nor cultivation of domesticated cereals.…”

“…Shastry and Sharma (1974) and Chang (1976) worked on the three ecological races of rice ( Oryza sativa L.), such as Indica, Japonica and Javanica. However, in palaeoecological studies, where large sets of palynomorphs are routinely analysed, the use of SEM is impractical and time consuming (Hapsari and Ballauff, 2022). Therefore, morphological (i.e.…”

“…Pollen have been used as established tools in detecting human impacts on the landscape and in the development of agriculture (Behre, 2007; Yang et al, 2012). Moreover, reliable identification of Cereal Poaceae (Cerealia; cultivated grass) pollen and their differentiation with the Poaceae (wild grass) pollen is crucial for detecting ancient or early agricultural activities using pollen analysis (Behre, 2007; Hapsari and Ballauff, 2022; Lahtinen and Rowley-Conwy, 2013). This may be achieved by using scanning electron microscope (SEM).…”

“…grain size) differentiation under light microscope remains the most economical solution (Hamilton et al, 2019; Joly et al, 2007; Radaeski et al, 2016; Schüler and Behling, 2011). Hapsari and Ballauff (2022) suggested that if a grain has a paired threshold of 30.5 µm grain size diameter and 8.5 µm annulus size diameter, with an error rate of only 1%, then it will be of Cereals (Cerealia), after studying 82 Poaceae species from Sundaland (islands of Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Malaysia Peninsula and part of Indo-china). They observed that almost all the species have monoporate apertures and only few species have few grains with diporate apertures.…”

“…Pollen analysis may effectively detect early agricultural activities and, thus, can be very valuable in archaeological research also, for example, such study could contribute in identifying potential archaeological sites that have subtle features or are concealed by urbanisation (Crow et al, 2007; Whittington and Edwards, 1994; Hapsari and Ballauff, 2022).…”