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Abundant ancient seeds of plants in the genus Melilotus have been concurrently unearthed with grain crops and livestock bones from the Keyakekuduke beacon tower of the Tang Dynasty (AD 618–907) in Xinjiang, northwest China. This is the first time that a high concentration of Melilotus seeds has been found in archaeobotanical records in Xinjiang. Combined with the military nature of the site as well as the theoretical adequacy of using Melilotus plants as fodder, the high proportion of Melilotus remains is hypothesized to be an indication of its ancient use as army horse fodder with possible other applications. As a drought-tolerant plant adapted to high ambient temperatures, the use of Melilotus as a forage legume by ancient frontier soldiers might have been a judicious choice given local arid climatic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]