2026-10-08T09:03:28Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/33979612 2026-09-24T04:37:32Z category_127 portal_316 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

Table 1_Intercropping in the Merovingian period? Legume finds from Harestadkrysset, Norway, in their wider Scandinavian context.xlsx Dawn Elise Mooney (25102087) Archaeology archaeobotany crops iron age Late Antique Little Ice Age medieval pulses <p>In 2021–2022, excavations in advance of roadbuilding at Harestadkrysset, southwest Norway uncovered archaeological remains from various periods, including houses from the Merovingian period (570–793 AD). In the largest of these houses, the wall ditch and one of the postholes produced charred remains of large legume seeds, tentatively identified as cultivated legumes (cf. Vicia/Lathyrus/Pisum) and dated to 579–645 cal AD. These seeds are unusual in both their large size and their concentration: although vetches are occasionally found as single examples in wild/weed seed assemblages in Rogaland, this is by far the largest number of legume finds from a single house dating to earlier than the Medieval period. This suggests that legumes were cultivated, and that their inclusion in the archaeological record results from their collection and processing. This paper sets these finds in their broader context, comparing finds of legumes from both Rogaland and elsewhere in Scandinavia. The find is also compared with historically-attested agricultural practices, including intercropping of oats and peas in order to improve soil fertility. It is possible that this find represents a local innovation or change in agricultural practice in the face of climatic changes in the Late Antique Little Ice Age, and this paper also compares the Harestadkrysset finds with other archaeobotanical material from this period in southwest Norway.</p> 2026-09-24T04:37:32Z Dataset Dataset 10.3389/fearc.2026.1912980.s001 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Table_1_Intercropping_in_the_Merovingian_period_Legume_finds_from_Harestadkrysset_Norway_in_their_wider_Scandinavian_context_xlsx/33979612 CC BY 4.0