Chick peas... legume, right?

I'm remembering living in Kurdish Turkey one year and eating a good deal of
raw chick peas. We would often stop and "steal" whole plants from farmers'
fields (a common practice there or so my *corrupt* Kurdish guides told me).
Sometimes we were honest and bought them, but the stealing really was the fun part.
At any rate, they were a staple in that region through the summer months. Now,
I think I'd have a hard time finding that particular food here even if I did
want it, but as a fairly recent recruit to the paleo way of life, I'm
curious... If our bodies can digest raw legumes, why aren't they part of a paleo diet,
at least in moderation? Certainly early humans didn't steal their neighbors'
plants <G>, but conceivably they came across them growing wild from time to
time, no?

Reese