花粉破壁法对花粉蜂蜜酒中氨基酸含量的影响

以蜂蜜为主料,加入花粉,经过调配、发酵、过滤、陈酿后获得氨基酸含量丰富的酒精饮料。花粉破壁分别采用超声破碎法、酶法和温差破壁法这几种不同方式处理,并添加于蜂蜜发酵液中,经酒精发酵,制得富含活性成分的花粉蜂蜜酒。最后利用毛细管电泳法来测定成品酒中的氨基酸,通过分析优化出最佳的花粉破壁方法。研究结果表明花粉经过温差破壁法处理后加入发酵液中,其成品的氨基酸含量最高。该产品不仅营养价值高,风味独特,而且还具有良好的保健作用。     

Palynological evidence of mead: a prehistoric drink dating back to the 3rd millennium b.c.

Human coprolites from Birka, Sweden and Dürrnberg, Austria, have been found, dated and palynologically analysed as a part of interdisciplinary studies. All their pollen spectra are dominated by insect-pollinated taxa well-known as nectar producing flowers, suggesting some consumption of honey. Among those spectra, some show significantly high values of Filipendula ulmaria (meadowsweet) pollen, which was historically used as flavouring in mead production, and which together with other indicators for honey, suggest that mead was part of the historic and prehistoric diet both in Birka and Dürrnberg. An evaluation of the background pollen suggests for the Birka specimen that honey was imported to the site from southern Baltic areas. The use of mead based on written sources is known at least from the Roman period. Archaeological studies demonstrate mead as an old crust residue on the inside of pots and other earthenware used as important funeral gifts from at least the 27th–25th centuries b.c. in Georgia. A comparison of the pollen records of European honey/mead samples strongly suggests that Filipendula is indicative of mead.     

Pollen analysis of the contents of excavated vessels—direct archaeobotanical evidence of beverages

Direct evidence of mead and wine by pollen analysis is possible under certain circumstances which have prevented the decomposition of the original pollen content of vessels from archaeological contexts. This is shown here by two examples. The first, which concerns a Bronze bowl from a rich woman's grave of the late Hallstatt Period at Niedererlbach, Bavaria, must have contained mead as is indicated by the pollen, preserved by copper salts. The results are similar to those from Glauberg, Hochdorf and Heuneburg. The second example comes from Coptic wine amphorae of the early medieval period from Šaruna, Middle Egypt. Pollen, as remains of the former contents, had been preserved by the absolute dryness of the climate. Vitis pollen persists on the grape's surface and it is also detectable in the finished wine when it has been prepared without using modern vinification technology, as shown by experiments. In some samples a sweetening of the wine or an enrichment of the must by honey is evident. These honeys were not mixed like the Celtic honeys in central Europe were but were well-made Brassicaceae yield honeys which indicate a highly developed bee-keeping culture; since they were collected by wild bees they represent the bees' activity over a complete growing season.     

Ecological Pressure and the Transition From Foraging to Agricultural Lifestyle on the Shire Highlands,Malawi

Floral and faunal assemblages from rockshelter sites have provided data on the transition from a Late Stone Age way of life to an Iron Age way of life on the Shire highlands in southern Malawi. The data have come from the excavation of seven rockshelter sites located in the area. They show that while there were no noticeable changes in the exploitation of wild flora and macrofauna during the Late Stone Age period, exploitation of microfauna and use of domesticated plants by Later Stone Age hunter gatherers became prominent with the arrival of Iron Age agriculturalists in the area. The change appears to have been a direct response to a declining resource base of hunter-gatherers caused by Iron Age subsistence strategies that may have led to a hunter-gatherer dependence on Iron Age agriculturists.     

From forest to open pastures and fields: cultural landscape development in western Norway inferred from two pollen records representing different spatial scales of vegetation

The cultural landscape development of a farming community in western Norway was investigated through pollen analyses from a lake and a peat/soil profile. The pollen record from the lake indicates that there was a decrease in arboreal pollen (AP) by the end of the Mesolithic period (ca. 4200 cal b.c.), and that a substantial forest clearance occurred during the Bronze Age (ca. 1500 cal b.c.). The latter, together with grazing indicators and cereals, suggests a widespread establishment of farming. At the beginning of the Roman Iron Age there is an increase in heath communities. The pollen diagram from the peat/soil profile shows the forest clearance in the Bronze Age more clearly than the lake profile. This local pollen diagram is compared with modern pollen samples from mown and grazed localities in western Norway. Both analogue matching and ordination (PCA) indicate that the site was characterised by pastures and cereal fields from the Late Bronze Age to the Late Iron Age. An expansion of cereal cultivation took place during the Pre-Roman Iron Age, and an arable field was established at the site after ca. a.d. 800. This investigation illustrates the potential of selecting pollen sites reflecting different spatial scales, and complements the cultural history of the area as inferred from archaeological and historical records.     

The use of fossilized honey for paleoecological reconstruction: A palynological study of archeological material from Georgia

Palynological analysis of the organic contents of ceramic pots from the Kodiani burial mound, which is dated as 27th-25th centuries B.C., revealed that they contained honey. The samples are extremely rich in excellently preserved pollen grains, including numerous pollen grains of insect-pollinated plants. Such characteristics are typical of palynological assemblages from honey. The palynological assemblages from three pot fragments studied are dominated by pollen grains of Rosaceae; however, they differ from one another in the subdominants. The discovery of several kinds of honey testifies to the presence of well-developed beekeeping in the time of the Early Kurgans. Agriculture, with a significant role of wheat, was also developed in the region of Georgia under study. According to the composition of the palynospectra, the ecological conditions that existed during the epoch studied differ significantly from the present day.     

Pollen analysis of Iron Age cow dung in southern Africa

Thick accumulations of consolidated cow dung occur in ancientkraals (byres or corrals) in the bushveld and highveld areas of Zimbabwe, Botswana, and South Africa dating from the last 2000 years. They originated from long-term cattle herding by Iron Age people. The vitrified or baked dung deposits are thought to be a product of the burning of cow dung as fuel, either for domestic purposes or for iron smelting. In order to establish the palaeoecological potential of this material, 36 samples of cow dung from archaeological sites within the present-day savanna and grassland biomes were analyzed for pollen and other microfossils. Of the samples, 29 contained pollen together with other microfossils that support a faecal origin of the material such as sordariaceous ascospores,Thecaphora, Gelasinospora, andChaetomium, and eggs of the intestinal parasiteTrichuris. Similar microfossils were also found in recent fresh cow dung from the same study areas. The presence of pollen grains and spores in most of the Iron Age samples lead to the assumption that they survived the burning because fire temperatures were not high enough to destroy them. Pollen in these cow dung pieces is apparently sealed and can be preserved under open-air conditions at sites under which pollen in other deposits like soils, will decay away. Good pollen preservation and palynomorph diversity were found with mainly Poaceae, and secondly Chenopodiaceae and Cyperaceae as the most important pollen types, while trees and shrubs indicating savanna are rare. In the case of the samples that came from the subtropical savanna biome the latter result is unexpected and suggests that the cattle were kept in more open vegetation than the woody environments of today. Recent cow dung samples reflect the composition of present-day vegetation by showing considerably higher proportions of tree pollen than the fossil assemblages.     

Maize pollen foraging by honey bees in relation to crop area and landscape context

The increasing demand for insect pollinated crops and high recent losses of honey bee colonies raise concerns about food security. Systemic insecticides are recognized as one of the drivers of worldwide honey and wild bee declines. Particularly honey bees in agricultural environments are exposed to pesticides when they collect crop pollen and nectar. However, landscape scale studies which analyze pollen use and foraging distances of honey bees on mass-flowering crops like maize to evaluate potential exposure risks are currently lacking. In an experimental approach on a landscape scale we took advantage of intra-colonial dance communication to gather information about the location of utilized pollen resources. During maize flowering, four observation hives were placed in and rotated between 11 different landscapes which covered a gradient from low to high maize acreage. A higher frequency of dances for foraging locations on maize fields compared to other land use types shows that maize is an intensively used pollen resource for honey bee colonies. Mean foraging distances were significantly shorter for maize pollen than for other pollen origins. The percentage of maize pollen foragers did not increase with maize acreage in the landscape. The proportion of grassland area providing alternative pollen sources did not reduce the percentage of maize pollen foragers. Our findings allow estimating the distance-related exposure risk of honey bee colonies to pollen from surrounding maize fields treated with systemic insecticides. Similarly, the results can be used to estimate the exposure to transgenic maize pollen, which is relevant for honey production in European countries. Provision of alternative pollen resources within agri-environmental schemes could potentially reduce exposure risk to pesticide contaminated crop pollen.     

Human impact on mid- and late Holocene vegetation in south Cumbria, UK

The use of 9 pollen sampling sites and 56 14C dates has identified hitherto unsuspected or poorly-defined sequences of mid- to late Holocene (late Neolithic to post-Medieval) anthropogenic vegetation changes in south Cumbria, U.K. A series of small-scale, but significant woodland clearance episodes are recorded throughout the Bronze Age, followed by a marked recession in activity during the early Iron Age. The late Iron Age-Roman periods witnessed the first major clearance of woodland in the region which was succeeded by woodland regeneration in the post-Roman/early Medieval period. Woodland clearance intensified in the later Medieval period culminating in large areas of permanently open landscape. The results show that high-resolution, independently date pollen analysis is necessary to reveal regional evidence of small, temporary Bronze Age clearances. A well-documented prehistoric wooden trackway from Foulshaw Moss is shown to be significantly older than previously thought, dating to the mid-Bronze Age, ca. 1550–1250 cal B.C. Pre-Roman cereal cultivation in the area is also confirmed.The Department of Earth Sciences     

Interpretation of charcoal and pollen data relating to a late Iron Age ritual site in eastern Ireland: a holistic approach

The study of charcoal produced by five burning episodes that occurred in a rapid succession within a ritual pit dating to the late Iron Age at Raffin Fort, Co. Meath, Ireland, reveals considerable variation in the charcoal assemblages resulting from each burning episode. Wood selection processes are considered against the background of information on woodland composition and land-use history provided by a detailed pollen diagram from nearby Emlagh Bog, the chronology of which is based on both AMS ¹⁴C dates and tephra analysis. A human skull fragment lay on top of the charcoal layers but the radiocarbon evidence indicates that the skull predated the burnings by at least a century. This and other evidence indicate a ritual pit with the skull as a human relic. It is suggested that, in this instance, wood selection was neither random nor determined solely by availability or combustibility, but instead may have been informed by socio-religious belief systems pertaining to trees and wood. Early Irish documentary sources, which reveal a complex ethnography of wood and trees in later prehistoric and early historic Ireland, are reviewed. The results shed fresh light on aspects of late Iron Age archaeology in a part of Europe that was outside the direct influence of the Roman world. New information is provided on a distinctive feature in late Holocene Irish pollen records namely the Late Iron Age Lull (ca. a.d. 1–500). During this time, widespread regeneration of woody vegetation took place. In the subsequent early Medieval period renewed farming activity resulted in substantial decline in woodland, a pattern also seen at many other locations in Ireland.     

Is there a relationship between crop farming and the Alnus decline in the eastern Baltic region?

Data from 59 sequences studied through pollen analysis were used to examine the decline in Alnus in Estonia during the Iron Age. Between a.d. 300 and 1300, the Alnus pollen frequency declined markedly in 30 records distributed evenly across the investigated area. The beginning of the decline was time transgressive, coincidental with the start of extensive cultivation, and was frequently connected with the commencement of rye cultivation and the availability of land suitable for cultivation. The greatest reduction in Alnus abundance occurred during the Late Iron Age between a.d. 900 and 1000. This spatially random asynchrony suggests that one or more factors affected Alnus populations across the whole northern region. Human impact is discussed as a plausible cause of the decline. To determine the initiation of extensive crop farming in the eastern Baltic area, pollen diagrams from Latvia, Lithuania and the Novgorod region were also examined.     

The first find in southern Georgia of fossil honey from the Bronze Age,based on palynological data

The results of a palynological analysis of the organic content of earthenware pots from the Kodiani burial mound (27th–25th centuries b.c.) are reported. The character of the palynological spectrum differs significantly from that of a buried soil within the same burial mound. In the samples taken from the pots, pollen concentration is very high, pollen grains are perfectly preserved and an abundance of pollen from insect-pollinated plants is recorded. It is well known that these features are peculiar to honey palynospectra. In all three pots the pollen of Rosaceae, a family of plants that produce good honey, is dominant. However, the second, third and fourth most dominant pollen types in all three samples are different. For example, Tilia pollen is the second dominant in only one pot. In the second pot, Apiaceae and Poaceae are predominant, and in the third pot, Poaceae, both wild and cultural, is the second dominant. It is clear that the different pots contained different types of honey. The variety of honey types indicates highly developed bee-keeping in the Early Bronze Age. In the same regions of Georgia, agriculture was also highly developed. Wheat cultivation was very important. According to the palynospectra, the landscape and climate of this period were probably quite different to those of today.     

Long-term history of land-use and vegetation at Femtingagölen — a small lake in the Småland Uplands, southern Sweden

Pollen analysis was carried out on gyttja from the small lake Femtingagölen in the Småland Uplands, southern Sweden. The interpretation of the pollen diagram focused on land-use history and comparisons were made to archaeological and historical information from the area. An absolute chronology, based on AMS dates from terrestrial plant macrofossils, was complemented by inferred dates. The pollen analytical data suggest interference with the woodland cover from ca. 1700 B.C. onwards. Intensified grazing and forest clearances resulted in semi-open pastures between ca. A.D. 400–600 which was followed by forest regeneration (chronology based on AMS ¹⁴C dates and cross-correlation with other well dated profiles). The landscape became more open again between A.D. 800 and 1400. Animal husbandry was complemented by small-scale shifting cultivation during the Iron Age. Permanent arable fields were probably not introduced until the Late Iron Age or the Middle Ages. Hordeum and Triticum were grown during the Iron Age, Hordeum, Triticum, Secale and Cannabis sativa during the Middle Ages and early Modern time, and Hordeum and Avena in the recent past. Sandy and silty soils, where stone clearance was not necessary, have probably been used for cereal growing in prehistoric and historic time.     

Natural resources and agriculture during the Iron Age in Ostrobothnia,western Finland,investigated by pollen analysis

In Ostrobothnia, western Finland, the Viking period (A.D. 800–1050) in contrast to the rich Migration period (A.D. 400–550/600), is poor in archaeological finds. Archaeologists have interpreted this as indicating a break in settlement continuity. Palaeoecological investigations using pollen analyses and radiocarbon dating of peat cores from ten sites show that field cultivation and animal husbandry have taken place continuously throughout the entire Iron Age in Ostrobothnia. Slash-and-burn cultivation was not of importance in the studied area, but small-scale cereal cultivation occurred on permanent, tilled and manured fields. The Iron Age agriculture was largely dependent on animal husbandry and therefore was located close to the sea because the natural, highly productive shore meadows were an indispensable fodder resource. As a consequence of the progressive rapid change of the natural environment caused by the flat topography and land upheaval, the settlements were regularly relocated to keep pace with the westwards retreating sea. Settlement continuity in Iron Age coastal Ostrobothnia has to be looked upon in a regional rather than a local perspective because of the changing landscape. The results of this palaeoecological study, in which investigations were carried out in several parts of the region, demonstrate regional settlement continuity throughout the Iron Age.     

Contemporaneous Alnus decline and the beginning of Iron Age cultivation in pollen stratigraphies from southern Finland

Declines in Alnus coinciding with the first signs of Iron Age (a.d. 0–1150) human activities were found in the pollen stratigraphies of five small lakes in southern Finland. One lake did not show a clear minimum. Three of the lakes were investigated with close-interval analyses which showed that the Alnus minimum lasted for several centuries. The results were compared with 41 previously published pollen diagrams with evidence of Iron Age human activity from southern Finland. These diagrams were classified in three ways: (1) showing no Alnus minimum; (2) cases where a minimum was unclear; (3) showing a clear minimum in Alnus. The different types were found randomly scattered around southern Finland suggesting that Alnus minima were a local phenomenon. In most cases the Alnus minimum took place between ca. a.d. 600 and ca. a.d. 1000, a.d. 1300 being the latest date for the end of the minimum. The results do not suggest a pathogen outbreak over the entire area. The beginning of the minimum clearly coincides with the onset of Iron Age anthropogenic activities suggesting that these were the probable cause. Pollen analysis provides little information as to why trees were felled thus archaeological evidence is needed. However, the Alnus decline may prove a new and useful indicator of the onset of Iron Age anthropogenic activity in pollen diagrams.     

The Palaeoenvironmental Impact of Prehistoric Settlement and Proto-Historic Urbanism: Tracing the Emergence of the Oppidum of Corent,Auvergne, France

Early human societies and their interactions with the natural world have been extensively explored in palaeoenvironmental studies across Central and Western Europe. Yet, despite an extensive body of scholarship, there is little consideration of the environmental impacts of proto-historic urbanisation. Typically palaeoenvironmental studies of Bronze and Iron Age societies discuss human impact in terms of woodland clearance, landscape openness and evidence for agriculture. Although these features are clearly key indicators of human settlement, and characterise Neolithic and early to Middle Bronze Age impacts at Corent, they do not appear to represent defining features of a protohistoric urban environment. The Late Iron Age Gallic Oppidum of Corent is remarkable for the paucity of evidence for agriculture and strong representation of apophytes associated with disturbance. Increased floristic diversity – a phenomenon also observed in more recent urban environments – was also noted. The same, although somewhat more pronounced, patterns are noted for the Late Bronze Age and hint at the possibility of a nascent urban area. High percentages of pollen from non-native trees such as Platanus, Castanea and Juglans in the late Bronze Age and Gallic period also suggest trade and cultural exchange, notably with the Mediterranean world. Indeed, these findings question the validity of applying Castanea and Juglans as absolute chronological markers of Romanisation. These results clearly indicate the value of local-scale palaeoecological studies and their potential for tracing the phases in the emergence of a proto-historic urban environment.     

Multiple routes of pesticide exposure for honey bees living near agricultural fields

Populations of honey bees and other pollinators have declined worldwide in recent years. A variety of stressors have been implicated as potential causes, including agricultural pesticides. Neonicotinoid insecticides, which are widely used and highly toxic to honey bees, have been found in previous analyses of honey bee pollen and comb material. However, the routes of exposure have remained largely undefined. We used LC/MS-MS to analyze samples of honey bees, pollen stored in the hive and several potential exposure routes associated with plantings of neonicotinoid treated maize. Our results demonstrate that bees are exposed to these compounds and several other agricultural pesticides in several ways throughout the foraging period. During spring, extremely high levels of clothianidin and thiamethoxam were found in planter exhaust material produced during the planting of treated maize seed. We also found neonicotinoids in the soil of each field we sampled, including unplanted fields. Plants visited by foraging bees (dandelions) growing near these fields were found to contain neonicotinoids as well. This indicates deposition of neonicotinoids on the flowers, uptake by the root system, or both. Dead bees collected near hive entrances during the spring sampling period were found to contain clothianidin as well, although whether exposure was oral (consuming pollen) or by contact (soil/planter dust) is unclear. We also detected the insecticide clothianidin in pollen collected by bees and stored in the hive. When maize plants in our field reached anthesis, maize pollen from treated seed was found to contain clothianidin and other pesticides; and honey bees in our study readily collected maize pollen. These findings clarify some of the mechanisms by which honey bees may be exposed to agricultural pesticides throughout the growing season. These results have implications for a wide range of large-scale annual cropping systems that utilize neonicotinoid seed treatments.     

Human impact signals from peat bogs – a combined palynological and geochemical approach

This research compares palynological evidence for changes in land use histories with a geochemical method for reconstructing past soil erosion. Changes in land use have significant effects on soil erosion. It has been shown elsewhere that silicon (Si) and titanium (Ti) are good proxies for soil erosion. Ombrotrophic peat bogs are useful archives in which to measure Si and Ti depositions as they only receive inorganic erosional inputs through atmospheric deposition and they contain very low background levels of mineral matter. The correlation between geochemical and pollen analytical reconstructions of past human activity from three raised bog sites in Great Britain and Ireland is discussed here, with reference to examples from four particular time periods: the mid-to-late Bronze Age/Iron Age, the late Iron Age/Roman period, the Middle Ages/Tudor period and the more recent past. The results generally indicate a close correlation between the palynological and geochemical proxies, with the combination of both methods allowing a more comprehensive interpretation of the palaeoenvironmental record. Plantago lanceolata and Poaceae pollen frequencies appear to correlate particularly well with the geochemical proxies. A multi-proxy approach such as this may be particularly useful for identifying and interpreting low-level prehistoric human impact.     

Invader or native? — vegetation clearance in northern Britain during Romano-British time

Pollen diagrams from nine mire sites in the Hadrianic-Antonine frontier area have been constructed to assess the record of human impact on vegetation over the last 3,000 years. Of particular interest is the effect of the Roman invasion and occupation of northern Britain on vegetation, especially that related to the construction of the Hadrianic and Antonine walls, forts and roads. Pollen analysis was undertaken to investigate whether the impact was widespread across the frontier zone or was confined to the proximity of Roman walls and forts. The results of high-resolution pollen analysis, supported by radiocarbon dates, have demonstrated that there was little woodland clearance during the Bronze Age and that the first major and permanent clearance of vegetation at certain sites occurred during the Iron Age. This is followed by a second clearance relating to the Roman occupation. At Fozy Moss, Northumbria, minimal Iron Age clearance occurs and the first major clearance occurs at the time of the Roman occupation. The dramatic response of the grass pollen curves and the relatively low level of agricultural indicators is in accord with the archaeological evidence for the Roman impact being one of woodland clearance for military purposes rather than for settled agriculture. A contribution to the 8th IPC, Aix-en-Provence, Sept. 1992     

On a simplified model for pattern formation in honey bee colonies

We present a simplified version of a previously presented model (Camazine et al. (1990)) that generates the characteristic pattern of honey, pollen and brood which develops on combs in honey bee colonies. We demonstrate that the formation of a band of pollen surrounding the brood area is dependent on the assumed form of the honey and pollen removal terms, and that a significant pollen band arises as the parameter controlling the rate of pollen input passes through a bifurcation value. The persistence of the pollen band after a temporary increase in pollen input can be predicted from the model. We also determine conditions on the parameters which ensure the accumulation of honey in the periphery and demonstrate that, although there is an important qualitative difference between the simplified and complete models, an analysis of the simplified version helps us understand many biological aspects of the more complex complete model. Corresponding author