Necropolis under a tumulus at Veprčani: Representative case of using sacred places during several periods in the past

Six Late Roman graves and one prehistoric burial have been discovered under a tumulus in the course of investigations. The tumulus is around 11meters in diameter and around 1 meter high and is situated at Veprčani, in the mountainous area of Mariovo in south Macedonia. The graves mostly contained cists of broken stones or slabs covered with stone slabs, one grave was carved into the rock and one consisted of a dislocated grave association. One prehistoric burial containing the remains of a cremated individual and grave goods was encountered under a small stone mound to the south of tumulus. Regarding the grave goods, mortuary practice and funerary rituals of the original tumulus as well as the prehistoric burials, and material from the mound have been dated to the Ha A period, while the antique graves were dated to the 3rd-4th century

Genetički resursi jednogodišnjih mahunarki umerenih klimata - III - lokalno gajene i održavane populacije gajenih vrsta

The genetic resources of legumes (Fabaceae Lindl.) are facing the narrowing the genetic basis of cultivated species, that is bottlenecks of the available gene pools. This is caused mostly by breeding, since it aims at improving yield and quality. The most widely cultivated crops are in a specific danger of losing numerous desirable traits due to a heavy selection pressure preferring usually yield. Using locally cultivated and maintained landraces of the economically most important annual legumes, such as chickpea (Cicer arietinum), lentil (Lens culinaris), grass pea (Lathyrus sativus), white lupin (Lupinus albus) and faba bean (Vicia faba) may assist breeding and various modern crop systems. They preserved numerous desirable traits that may be easily introgressed into modern cultivars and thus improve their performance.Biljni genetički resursi su oduvek bili smatrani živim blagom jedne zemlje i čitavog čovečanstva. Međutim, njihovo ex situ očuvanje i in situ održavanje suočava se sa ograničenim ljudskim resursima i finansijskom podrškom. Mahunarke (Fabaceae Lindl., syn. Leguminosae Juss. and Papilionaceae Giseke) odlikuju se suženom genetičkom osnovom gajenih vrsta, odnosno uskih grla raspoloživih izvora gena. Ovo je posledica, uglavnom, oplemenjivanja koje je usmereno na unapređenje prinosa i kvaliteta. Korišćenje lokalno gajenih i održavanih populacija ekonomski najznačajnih jednogodišnjih mahunarki može biti od pomoći oplemenjivanju i raznim savremenim sistemima ratarenja. One su očuvale brojna poželjna svojstva, koja se lako mogu uneti u trenutno korišćene sorte i time unaprediti ishod njihovog gajenja

Tip lista i prinos zrna stočnog graška

A three-year trial (2000-2002) was aimed to investigate the grain yield of nine pea genotypes with different leaf type. One (Akatsievydnaya forma) had acacia (Aftl), four (NS-junior, Moravac, Javor and Amino) normal (AfTl) and four (Jezero, 4(1993), CD and Primeroy) afila (afTl) leaf type. Average plant height (PH), first pod height (FPH), internode number (IN), pod number per plant (PNP), grain number per plant (GNP), plant mass (PM), grain yield per plant (GYP) and per area unit (GYA), harvest index (HI) and thousand grains weight (TGW) were studied. There existed significant differences in all yield components, both between the different leaf type groups and between the genotypes of the same group. The AfTl cultivars had the greatest values for PH (75.2 cm), FPH (43.5 cm), IN (18.9), PNP (8.7), GNP (34.2), PM (15.89 g) and GYP (6.97 g). The afTl genotypes had the greatest HI (0.56), GYA (2980 t/ha) and TGW (255 g). As for the cultivars, NS-junior was characterized by the greatest values of PH (120.4 cm), FPH (68,6 cm). IN (22.2), PNP (11.3), GNP (42.5) and PM (17.95 g). Javor had the greatest GYP (8.56 g), while the greatest HI was determined in genotype 4(1993)(0,60). The greatest GYA was in Primeroy (4298 kg/ha) and the greatest TGW was measured in Moravac (301 g).Cilj trogodišnjeg ogleda (2000-2002) bio je ispitivanje prinosa zrna devet genotipova graška različitog tipa lista. Jedan od njih (Akatsievydnaya forma) imao je bagremasti (Aftl), četiri (NS-junior, moravac, javor i amino) normalni (AfTl) i četiri (jezero, 4(1993), CD i Primerov) afila (afTl) tip lista. Praćene su prosečna visina biljke (VB), visina prve mahune (VPM), broj internodija (BI), broj mahuna po biljci (BMB), broj zrna po biljci (BZB), masa biljke (MB), prinos zrna po biljci (PZB) i jedinici površine (PZP), žetveni indeks (ŽI) i masa hiljadu zrna (MHZ). Utvrđeno je postojanje značajnih razlika u komponentama prinosa zrna, kako između grupa sa različitim tipom lista, tako i među genotipovima u okviru iste grupe. Sorte AfTl genotipa odlikovale su se najvećim vrednostima VB (75,2 cm), VPM (43,5 cm), BI (18,9), BMB (8,7), BZB (34,2), MB (15,89 g) i PZP (6,97 g). Genotipovi afTl fenotipa imali su najveći ŽI (0,56), PZP (2980 t/ha) i MHZ (255 g). Sorta NS-junior odlikovala se najvećim vrednostima VB (120,4 cm), VPM (68,6 cm), BI (22,2), BMB (11,3), BZB (42,5) i MB (17,95 g). Najveći PZB (8,56 g) postigla je sorta javor, dok je najveći ŽI određen kod genotipa 4(1993) (0,60). Najveći PZP ostvarila je sorta Primerov (4298 kg/ha), a najveća MHS izmerena je kod moravca (301 g)

Genetički resursi jednogodišnjih mahunarki umerenih klimata - II - zanemarene i nedovoljno korišćene gajene vrste

Plant genetic resources are a live treasury of both one country and the whole mankind, although their ex situ preservation and in situ conservation are very demanding in numerous ways, especially if human resources and financial issues are considered. Legumes (Fabaceae Lindl.) are facing the bottlenecks caused by breeding emphasizing yield and quality, raising the questions how to solve the issue of this narrowing the genetic basis of cultivated legume species. The reintroduction of neglected and underutilised crops, such as red vetchling (Lathyrus cicera), Cyprus vetchling (Lathyrus ochrus), French serradella (Ornithopus sativus), Ethiopian pea (Pisum abyssinicum), field pea (Pisum sativum var. arvense), fenugreek (Trigonella phoenum-graecum), bitter vetch (Vicia ervilia), Narbonne vetch (Vicia narbonensis), Hungarian vetch (Vicia pannonica) and hairy vetch (Vicia villosa) may significantly assist many contemporary farming systems by diversifying their needs and improve the efficiency of environment resources.Ovaj pregledni rad teži da prikaže zanemarene i nedovoljno korišćene gajene jednogodišnje mahunarke i pokuša da odgovori kako ih sačuvati od potpunog nestanka. Ove vrste se odlikuju velikim potencijalom za visoke i kvalitetne prinose i otpornost na abiotički i biotički stres. Takođe, odlikuju se i brojnim agronomski značajnim osobinama. Široka međusobna varijabilnost najvažnijih svojstava može biti izuzetno korisna za proširenje raznovrsnosti postojećih sistema ratarenja, koji se u sve većoj meri odlikuju sve uzanijom genetičkom osnovom

A brief review on the early distribution of pea (Pisum sativum L.) in Europe

Grašak je predstavljao deo svakodnevne ishrane evropskih lovaca-sakupljača krajem poslednjeg ledenog doba. Glavni kriterijumi za određivanje odomaćivanja graška su nepucajuće mahune, krupno seme i glatka semenjača. Semena graška pronađena su među najstarijim ostacima gajenih biljaka na lokalitetu El-Kerk u Siriji, starosti 10,000 godina. Zajedno sa strninama i sočivom, grašak je odigrao ključnu ulogu u otpočinjanju 'poljoprivredne revolucije' u Starom svetu. Grašak je ušao u Evropu u njenim jugoistočnim delovima i prodro u unutrašnjost uz Dunav, šireći se brzo, što je potvrđeno njegovim prisustvom na udaljenim mestima u slično vreme. Lingvistički dokazi takođe govore u prilog da je grašak brzo postao prisutan u skoro svim delovima Evrope. Većina evropskih naroda poseduje svoje sopstvene reči za grašak, što znači da je postojao pre razvića njihovih prajezika.Pea was 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 pea are non-dehiscent pods, larger seed size and smooth seed testa. Pea 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 and lentil, pea has definitely become associated with the start of the 'agricultural revolution' in the Old World. Pea entered Europe in its southeast 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. The linguistic evidence supports the fact that pea had been present in nearly all regions of Europe. Most of European peoples have their own words denoting pea, meaning that it preceded the diversification of their own proto-languages

Genetički resursi jednogodišnjih mahunarki umerenih klimata, I - divlji srodnici gajenih vrsta

This review is attempting to present the wild relatives of cool season annual legumes and thus hopefully answer to how and what these taxa, colloquially said, have to offer to the cultivated crops, in terms of yield, quality, stress resistance and other economically important issues. They represent a wide gene pool of various desirable traits, especially those related to abiotic and biotic stress resistance that may be introgressed into the advanced cultivars, with overcoming potential physiological or genetic barriers. The wide mutual variations of the most important characteristics may be extremely beneficial for the advanced cultivars due to numerous bottlenecks and their narrow genetic base. If considered from a wider point of view, wild relatives of cool season annual legumes represent not only a national or regional treasury, but also a tool to improve the modern agriculture to the benefit of the whole mankind.Ovaj pregledni rad teži da prikaže divlje srodnike jednogodišnjih mahunarki i pokuša da odgovori kako i čime, nezvanični rečeno, ovi taksoni imaju da ponude gajenim vrstama, u smislu prinosa, kvaliteta, otpornosti na stres i ostale agronomski značajne osobine. Oni predstavljaju široki izvor gena za poželjna svojstva, posebno za ona u vezi s abiotičkim i biotičkim stresom, koja mogu biti unesena u postojeće sorte, prevazilazeći moguće fiziološke ili genetičke prepreke. Široka međusobna varijabilnost najvažnije osobine može biti izuzetno korisna za postojeće sorte, usled brojnih 'uskih grla' i uzane genetičke osnove. Posmatrajući sa šireg stanovišta, divlji srodnici jednogodišnjih mahunarki umerenih klimata predstavljaju ne samo nacionalno ili regionalno blago, već i sredstvo za unapređenje savremene poljoprivrede na dobrobit čitavog čovečanstva

Celebrating the golden jubilee of Ratarstvo i povrtarstvo and the diamond jubilee of the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops

The newly founded International Legume Society early this year is making its first steps towards the first Legume Society Conference, an event which aim is to connect legume researchers worldwide and establish well-linked legume community. Its host this year, the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops (IFVCNS) is on its well-trodden path and celebrating its diamond jubilee, 75th years since its foundation in 1938. Another less known, but worth remembering anniversary is the golden jubilee of a journal Ratarstvo i povrtarstvo (Field and Vegetable Crops) published by the IFVCNS. Starting as Zbornik radova (Review of Research Work) in 1963, in the course of 50 years, the journal published 1651 papers in total, 402 of which are devoted to legume crops. The frequency of the research papers on legumes has steadily increased from 11.7% in the first decade, up to 27.3% till today. The most numerous papers were devoted to lucerne (10.4%), soybean (9%), vetches (7.5%), clovers (6.1%) and pea (5.8%). In total 144 legume species have been investigated in the journal. Out of 55 papers with at least one author out of Serbia and other ex-Yugoslavian countries, 45 papers were published in the last decade. The editorial board comprises 56 editors, a half of them are from Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Iraq, Ireland, Romania, Russia, Spain, Turkey, UK and USA

A note on the earliest distribution, cultivation and genetic changes in bitter vetch (vicia ervilia) in ancient Europe

Bitter vetch (Vicia ervilia (L.) Willd.) was a part of the everyday diet of the Eurasian Neanderthal population and the modern human Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers at the end of the last Ice Age. The major criteria to determine the domestication in bitter vetch and other ancient grain legumes are non-dehiscent pods, larger seed size and smooth seed testa. Bitter vetch 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, bitter vetch has become definitely associated with the start of the 'agricultural revolution' in the Old World. Bitter vetch entered Europe in its south-east 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. Recently the first success has been obtained in the extraction of ancient DNA from charred bitter vetch seeds. The linguistic evidence supports the fact that most of Eurasian peoples have their own words denoting bitter vetch, meaning that its cultivation preceded the diversification of their own proto-languages

Paleolinguistics and crop history of ancient Eurasian grain legumes

The goal of a preliminary paleolinguistic research was to identify the roots in diverse Eurasian proto-languages directly related to grain legumes and producing the words denoting the same in modern Eurasian languages. Six Proto-Indo-European roots were attested, namely arnk(')- (a leguminous plant’), *bhabh- (‘field bean’), *erag’/h/- (’a kernel of leguminous plant’, ‘pea’), ghArs- (a leguminous plant’), *kek- (‘pea’) and *lent- (‘lentil’). So far, no Proto-Uralic or Proto-Kartvelian roots have been identified, except for the hypothetical Proto-Uralic *kača (‘pea’). On the other hand, there are two Proto-Altaic roots, *bukrV (‘pea’) and *zjabsa (‘lentil’). The Proto-Caucasian roots *qor'a, denoting pea, and *howl(a), denoting bean and lentil, and the Proto-Basque root *itha-r (’pea’, ‘bean’, ‘vetch’) may originate from a common Proto-Sino-Caucasian *hVwlV, denoting bean, within the hypothetic Dené-Caucasian language superfamily. The Modern Maltese preserved the memory of two Proto-Semitic roots, *‘adaš- (‘lentil’) and *pul- (‘field bean’), while the third originally Proto-Afroasiatic root related to grain legumes is *mang-, denoting both millet and lentil. The origin of the Old Chinese word *shok, originally denoting grain and seed and later beginning to denote soybean, is in the Proto-Sino-Caucasian root *sfHwekE ( ~ -k-), meaning ‘chaff’. The presented evidence demonstrates that the most ancient Eurasian grain legume crops were well-known and widely grown by the ancestors of all modern European nations. The attested lexicological continuum confirms the existence of the millennia-long bonds among the peoples of Eurasia to the mutual benefit. This research will hopefully encourage future interdisciplinary and concerted actions between plant scientist dealing with crop evolution and biodiversity, archaeobotanists and paleolinguists

All legumes are beautiful, but some legumes are more beautiful than others

Apart from their prominent roles as food and feed, legumes have numerous forms of non-food uses, with green manure and biofuel as the most widely present in agriculture and industry. Most legume species are easily recognised for the colour of their flowers and it is rather natural there are legumes cultivated especially for ornamental purposes. One of the most renown decorative legume species is sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus L.), an annual with great diversity of flower size and petal shape. Breeding sweet pea has a tradition long more than a century, especially in UK, resulting in developing a large number of sweet pea cultivars of diverse flower colour, size and shape and fragrance length and intensity. The largest collection of sweet pea in the world was established and is maintained by Roger Parsons, gaining a status of a UK national collection and comprising about 900 cultivars of sweet pea and around 100 taxa of other Lathyrus species. Garden lupin (Lupinus polyphyllus Lindl.) is a perennial herbaceous species native to North America. The most significant efforts in breeding garden lupin were made by George Russell from UK, developing an ideotype present in majority of the contemporary cultivars. There are other ornamental lupin species, such as Texas Bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis Hook.), the favourite of many Texans and one of the state flowers of Texas. Among the woody perennial legumes, grown as ornamentals, it is noteworthy to mention Japanese wisteria (Wisteria floribunda (Willd.) DC.), a liana species, as well as deciduous trees, such as Judas tree (Cercis siliquastrum L.), honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos L.), golden-chaintree (Laburnum×watereri (G. Kirchn.) Dippel) and Pagoda Tree (Styphnolobium japonicum (L.) Schott)