Pollen and Phytolith Evidence for Rice Cultivation and Vegetation Change during the Mid-Late Holocene at the Jiangli Site, Suzhou, East China

Pollen and phytolith analyses were undertaken at the Jiangli site in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, combined with studies on macrofossils by flotation. The concentration of pollen decreased while the percentage of Poaceae pollen in the profile increased from the late phase of the Majiabang Culture to the Songze Culture suggesting that human impact on the local environment intensified gradually. The discovery of rice paddy implies a relatively advanced rice cultivation in this area during the middle-late Holocene. Other than phytoliths, the high percentage of Oryza-type Poaceae pollen (larger than 40 µm) supplied robust evidence for the existence of rice paddy. Moreover, the fact that the farther from the rice paddy, the lower the concentration and percentage of Poaceae pollen also proves that the dispersal and deposition of pollen is inversely proportional to the distance.