Pisum & Ervilia Tetovac: Made in Early Iron Age Leskovac, Part one: Two charred pulse crop storages of the fortified hill fort settlement Hissar in Leskovac, South Serbia

Abstract

A lucky find of 2,572 charred pea (Pisum sativum L) seeds in a single archaeobotanical sample from the hill fort settlement Hissar near Leskovac represents a unique example in Bronze / Iron Age research in South East Europe. Another mass storage of bitter vetch (Vicia ervilia (L) Willd) from the same site and period (Brnjica cultural group, beginning of the Iron Age in the Morava valley) confirms a long tradition of the city of Leskovac region as a pulse crop production centre in modern Serbia. Both pulse storages were almost pure with small amount of admixture from other crops mainly cereals, other pulses, such as lentil (Lens culinaris Medik) and broad bean (Vicia faba L), and oil/fibre plants. Both pulses were cultivated as main crops and were stored separately.

Keywords

• 12th cent. B.C.
• archaeobotany
• Brnjica cultural group
• charred bitter vetch storage
• charred pea storage
• Hissar
• Leskovac
• South Serbia