pollen

Hazelnut pollen found in layers dating to about 7000 years ago suggests Indigenous peoples had deliberately brought the hazelnuts north from multiple different locations, then tended and cultivated them here.

A team of researchers from the UK and Australia analysed charcoal and pollen contained in ancient mud to determine how Aboriginal Tasmanians shaped their surroundings.

Some 1600 years after this fire surge, the ratios of types of pollen trapped in the sediment changed, too, suggesting the burning shifted the vegetation.

They are essential to ecosystems, and we use them for everything from seeds to oil to pollen to decoration.

The bees even demand, “Give us your pollen.”