Archaeological evidence on the use of vetchlings (Lathyrus spp) in ancient Europe
Abstract views: 85 / PDF downloads: 48
https://doi.org/10.56093/ijas.v84i6.41487
Keywords:
Archaeology, Crop history, Distribution, Lathyrus spp, Old Europe, VetchlingsAbstract
Vetchlings (Lathyrus spp) were a part of the everyday diet of the European hunter-gatherers at the end of the last Ice Age. The major criteria to determine the domestication in vetchlings are non-dehiscent pods, larger seed size and smooth seed testa. Vetchlings seeds were found among the earliest findings of cultivated crops at the site of Tell El- Kerkh, Syria, from 10th millennium BP. Along with cereals, pea and lentil, vetchlings have become definitely associated with the start of the ‘agricultural revolution’ in the Old World. Vetchlings entered Europe in its southern regions and progressed into its interior via Danube. Its distribution was rapid, since the available evidence reveals its presence in remote places at similar periods.
Downloads
References
Aura J E, Carrión Y, Estrelles E and Jordà G P. 2005. Plant economy of hunter-gatherer groups at the end of the last Ice Age: plant macroremains from the cave of Santa Maira (Alacant, Spain) ca. 12000–9000 B.P. Veget Hist Archaeobot 14: 542–50. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-005-0002-1
Bellini C, Mariotti-Lippi M, Mori Secci M, Aranguren B and Perazzi P. 2008. Plant gathering and cultivation in prehistoric Tuscany (Italy). Veget Hist Archaeobot 17(Suppl 1): S103– S112. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-008-0189-z
Bouby L, Leroy F and Carozza L. 1999. Food plants from late Bronze Age lagoon sites in Languedoc, southern France: Reconstruction of farming economy and environment. Veget Hist Archaeobot 8: 53–69. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02042843
Hald M M. 2010. Distribution of crops at late Early Bronze Age Titris¸ Höyük, southeast Anatolia: towards a model for the identification of consumers of centrally organised food distribution. Veget Hist Archaeobot 19: 69–77. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-009-0223-9
Henry A G, Brooks A S and Piperno D R 2011. Microfossils in calculus demonstrate consumption of plants and cooked foods in Neanderthal diets (Shanidar III, Iraq; Spy I and II, Belgium). Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 108: 486–91. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1016868108
Kislev, M E and Bar-Yosef O. 1988. The legumes: The earliest domesticated plants in the Near East? Curr Anthropol 29: 175– 9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/203623
Ljuština M and Mikiæ A. 2010. A brief review on the early distribution of pea (Pisum sativum L.) in Europe. Ratar. povrt. / Field Veg. Crop. Res. 47: 457–60.
Marinova E and Popova Tz. 2008. Cicer arietinum (chickpea) in the Neolithic and Chalcolithic of Bulgaria: Implications for cultural contacts with the neighbouring regions? Veget Hist Archaeobot 17: 73–80. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-008-0159-5
Martin L, Jacomet S and Thiebault S. 2008. Plant economy during the Neolithic in a mountain context: The case of ‘‘Le Chenet des Pierres’’ in the French Alps (Bozel-Savoie, France). Veget Hist Archaeobot 17(Suppl 1): S113–S122. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-008-0191-5
Mikc A, Ljuština M, Kenicer G and Smýkal P. 2009. A brief historical review on Lathyrus in Europe. Grain Legume 54: 33. Rottoli M and Castiglioni E. 2009. Prehistory of plant growing and collecting in northern Italy, based on seed remains from the early Neolithic to the Chalcolithic (c. 5600–2100 cal B.C.). Veget Hist Archaeobot 18: 91–103. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-007-0139-1
Tanno K and Willcox G. 2006. The origins of cultivation of Cicer arietinum L. and Vicia faba L.: early finds from Tell el-Kerkh, north-west Syria, late 10th millennium B.P. Veget Hist Archaeobot 15: 197–204. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-005-0027-5
Weeden N F. 2007. Genetic changes accompanying the domestication of Pisum sativum: is there a common genetic basis to the ‘domestication syndrome’ for legumes? Annals Botany 100: 1 017–25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcm122
Weeden N F, Brauner S and Przyborowski J A. 2002. Genetic analysis of pod dehiscence in pea (Pisum sativum L.). Cellular and Molecular Biology Letters 7:2B: 657–63.
Willcox G, Fornite S and Herveux L. 2008. Early Holocene cultivation before domestication in northern Syria. Veget Hist Archaeobot 17: 313–25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-007-0121-y
Zeven A C and Zhukovsky P M. 1975. Dictionary of Cultivated Plants and Their Centres of Diversity. Centre for Agricultural Publishing and Documentation, Wageningen.
Downloads
Submitted
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2014 The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The copyright of the articles published in The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences is vested with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, which reserves the right to enter into any agreement with any organization in India or abroad, for reprography, photocopying, storage and dissemination of information. The Council has no objection to using the material, provided the information is not being utilized for commercial purposes and wherever the information is being used, proper credit is given to ICAR.