The storage of pulses during the Bronze and Iron Ages in the East of the Iberian Peninsula: Examining the archaeological data through the lens of ethnography

Abstract Cereal storage is a widely studied subject in archaeological literature. Other agricultural products such as pulses, by contrast, have received little attention. Ethnographical research and the few exceptional finds of these products, nonetheless, reveal their important role in past societies. The disparity between cereals and legumes can also be indicative of differences between their respective agro-cultural processes. The detailed study of their different agricultural processes, such as storage or processing, can thus offer a better interpretation of the role of pulses throughout Prehistory. This article specifically presents a study of pulse seed remains and their possible link to archaeological storage structures in the East of the Iberian Peninsula throughout the 2nd and 1st millennium BC. Due to the scarcity of pulse remains recovered in the place where they were stored, structures that could have potentially served to store them are compared with ethnographic examples. The archaeological and ethnological data collected in this research has led to defining certain categories of pulse storage systems in the study, which in turn serve to identify a series of differences and similarities between pulse and cereal storage systems adapted to the needs of each botanical family.