This study applied size and shape analyses through traditional and geometric morphometrics to quantify the differences between three taxa: Lathyrus sativus (grass pea), Lens culinaris (lentil) and Vicia faba (broad bean). This analysis represents a pilot study in view of a wider future application of this technique to identify the role of legumes throughout the Western Mediterranean in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Here, we quantify the morphological differences of seed species from the site of La Font de la Canya (Catalonia, Spain), an Iron Age (625–150 bc) centre of storage and trade which delivered a vast assemblage of cereal, fruit and legume remains. Our results reveal that seed outline analyses have a greater potential of prediction than length measurements. The combination of the two, however, leads to even more precise predictions. Moreover, the quantitative differences between the lentils of the different samples confirm the potential of these analyses to further identify intra-species morphotypes.

本研究通过传统和几何形态测量施加的大小和形状的分析以量化三个生物分类之间的差异：山黧豆（草豌豆），扁豆（兵豆）和蚕豆（蚕豆）。鉴于该技术在青铜时代和铁器时代中整个西地中海地区豆类的作用越来越广泛，该分析代表了一项初步研究。在这里，我们从铁器时代（625-150 bc）的La Font de la Canya（西班牙加泰罗尼亚）站点量化了种子物种的形态差异。）的存储和贸易中心，运送了大量谷物，水果和豆类残留物。我们的结果表明，种子轮廓分析比长度测量具有更大的预测潜力。但是，两者的结合会导致更精确的预测。此外，不同样品的小扁豆之间的定量差异证实了这些分析潜力，可以进一步确定种内形态型。