Field Gladiolus (Gladiolus italicus Mill.): Contaminant of grain storage facilities

Archaeological excavations in southeastern Serbia have unearthed previously undocumented charred seeds from the early to late antiquity. These seeds exhibit a semispherical, laterally compressed, and angular morphology. Provisionally, they have been classified as Iridaceae. The macrobotanical remains closely resembled seeds of the extant Gladiolus italicus Mill. By charring modern field gladiolus seeds, the authors verified their initial findings, providing a valuable case study on the taphonomic processes that preserve the soft membranes of charred G. italicus seeds. The charring experiment revealed an additional morphological form among archaeobotanical finds. If the brittle seed membrane falls off due to exposure to high temperatures, the resulting seeds exhibit a "smooth" surface with a globose-pyriform (rounded, pear-shaped) shape. The presence of macro remains at the late Classical/early Hellenistic urban settlement of Kale-Krševica, built in the Greek style; the Late Roman imperial site of Felix Romuliana; and the Byzantine imperial site of Jusiniana Prima reveals that this plant species was a weed contaminant in fine-sieved grain storage facilities. Macrobotanical finds significantly contribute to understanding the introduction of this plant species into the weed flora of Serbia and encourage further research on its past distribution in the Balkans.