Late Holocene hemp (Cannabis sativa) retting in NE Hungary and the Holocene spread of hemp cultivation in eastern-central Europe

Abstract Pollen analytical studies of three sediment cores from the mesotrophic lake of Egerbakta (47.935°N, 20.291°E, 280 m a.s.l.), located in the Bükk Mountains in NE Hungary revealed large amounts of Cannabis sativa pollen (> 90%), a clear sign of hemp retting. The increase in Cannabis pollen occurred around the formation and settlement of Egerbakta village (ca. 1260 ce ) and continued until the mid-20th century. To ascertain the first appearance and the start of cultivation of the crop in Hungary and Eastern-Central Europe, we collected several well-dated pollen records from the NEOTOMA palaeoecological database, and plotted Cannabis- type pollen relative frequencies on maps. The results of the analyses showed the earliest evidence of hemp retting at 100 bce in Eastern Hungary (Kokad Mire). Furthermore, we revealed that hemp was locally present and likely cultivated for the first time in the Middle Copper Age Hunyadihalom Culture, around 3450 bce in eastern Hungary, while in western Hungary at 3150 bce . We argue that its cultivation is connectable with the regular intrusion of the pastoral groups from the Pontic steppe zone to the Great Hungarian Plain at this time who brought in the tradition of hemp cultivation. These findings fit well and postdate by ~1,000 year earlier evidence for hemp cultivation in Bulgaria by the Eneolithic Gumelniţa/Varna culture ( bce ). Evidence of intensified hemp cultivation in western Hungary was traced to the Iron Age Hallstatt period (ca. 1200–450 bce ), and it is likely connectable to their interaction with Scythians/Celts.