Materials to the history of agriculture in the surroundings of Early Medieval Сherson

The authors discuss the results of carpological analysis of samples selected during the study of a building on the territory of a medieval settlement in the Сhersonesos-Сherson's surroundings. The archaeological resource is located in the southern part of the Heracles Peninsula (Sevastopol) in the middle reaches of the Berman's Gully on its northern slope. This archaeological site was discovered in 2018, its area is 0,73 hectares. The excavated building is located on one of the upper terraces in the central part of the settlement. The existence of the structure fits within the 9th –11th centuries. The building has two construction periods. At the same time, the completion of the first stage of the structure’s functioning is associated with its death as a result of a fire at the turn of the 9th –10th centuries. At this time, there were food supplies in the room. Based on the results of the analysis of selected samples from the layer of burnt plant residues, it was established that the main volume of them was formed by straw, chaff and grains of soft wheat. There are small quantities of rye and barley grains, as well as weed plants seeds. All this may indicate grain growing as a significant branch of agricultural activity for the inhabitants of this settlement. In classical granaries, chaff and straw are not the main components that are why the structure most likely was not a long-term storage granary, but were used for shortterm storage of crops. Such a predominance of straw and chaff remains may indicate the early stages of wheat threshing in a given area or the storage of threshing waste as feed for livestock. It can also be assumed that the presence of such a volume of straw may indicate that the roof of the room at the end of the first stage of operation was thatched, and as a result of a fire with its subsequent collapse, the straw was mixed with stored supplies.

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