Isotopic and zooarchaeological investigation of later medieval and post-medieval cattle husbandry at Dudley Castle,West Midlands

Abstract

Zooarchaeological analysis of a substantial assemblage of animal bones excavated from Dudley Castle, West Midlands, revealed two significant changes in cattle management in the late medieval and post-medieval periods: a statistically significant increase in size in the later 14th century; and a gradual reduction in slaughter age. To explore whether these altered husbandry practices were accompanied by modifications to the diet and environment of these animals, a targeted study of carbon and nitrogen stable isotope values from 135 cattle bones was conducted. This analysis revealed that δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values were broadly consistent between the mid-13th and mid-18th centuries. Only two statistically significant diachronic variations were identified: a temporary decrease in δ¹³C values in phase 7 (1397–1533); and lower variation in δ¹³C values in phase 9 (1647–1750). A number of explanations for these changes are offered. While the zooarchaeologically attested shifts in cattle husbandry were not accompanied by isotopically detectable changes to diet and environment, the analysis of stable isotopes highlighted other changes that were not detected using traditional zooarchaeological analysis. The complimentary benefits of zooarchaeological and isotopic approaches are extolled.     

Rabbits and agriculture in post-medieval England

Rabbit-warrens may have represented the optimal use of very light soils. The paper relates the status and management of rabbit-warrens to the agricultural environment and improvements of post-medieval England, and describes the stages by which an alien species became established as a significant pest by the early modern period.     

Evaluation of the Early Paleo-Indian zooarchaeological record as evidence of diet breadth

Early Paleo-Indians in North America are historically hypothesized to have been large-game specialists. Despite decades of research, Early Paleo-Indian diets are alternately portrayed as of either specialist or generalist. Though some suggest that these terms are not useful, debate over the nature of these diets continues. Authors who have studied Early Paleo-Indian archaeofaunas from North America have analyzed either a conservative dataset, consisting only of taxa whose remains meet criteria indicating they were part of Early Paleo-Indian diet, or a liberal dataset which includes all taxa regardless of the presence or absence of evidence that represented taxa were part of the diet. Camp sites are assumed to be more indicative of long-term, average Early Paleo-Indian diet, but single-event kill sites and multiple-event kill sites are included in analyses. Richness, evenness, and heterogeneity of mammalian taxa and of body size classes for conservative and liberal datasets show that many assemblages cannot be categorized as representing either specialist or generalist diets regardless of dataset used or diversity measure employed. Early Paleo-Indian diet breadth was diverse and in some cases more diverse than during the subsequent Archaic.     

The current state of post-medieval archaeology in Flanders

Abstract

Post-medieval archaeology in Flanders (Belgium) is a comparatively young archaeological discipline, even in an historically important region with centres such as Antwerp, Bruges and Ghent. Originating in the slipstream of Flemish urban archaeology during the 1970s, the discipline has struggled for recognition ever since. As a result of more than 40 years of fieldwork, the material record of early-modern and modern history has changed drastically. Yet post-medieval archaeology has not reached its apogee. A framework with its own methods, teaching, research questions and theoretical approaches is still under construction. This paper aims not only at historiographical analysis of the field, but chiefly at defining a clear framework for positioning post-medieval archaeology in one of the most important regions in early-modern and modern Europe.     

Small prey hunting technology and zooarchaeological measures of taxonomic diversity and abundance: Ethnoarchaeological evidence from Central African forest foragers

Archaeological analyses of faunal assemblages often rely on rationale derived from the prey choice model to explain temporal and spatial changes in taxonomic measures of diversity and/or abundances. In this paper, we present analyses of ethnoarchaeological observations and bone assemblages created by Central African Bofi and Aka forest foragers which show that different small prey hunting technologies target specific suites of prey and that hunters vary their technological choice depending on their foraging goals. Analysis of ethnoarchaeological bone assemblages produced by the Bofi and Aka shows that variability in target prey can create spatially distinct, but contemporaneous, faunal assemblages with different diversity values and abundance indices. These data reveal important variation in how individuals within a contemporary human population rank prey and challenge current assumptions about the meaning of diversity and abundances measures in archaeological contexts. We argue that the use of diversity and abundance indices can obscure important intrasite variability in prehistoric foraging effort and suggest strategies that might enhance current techniques.     

Historical ecology of late Holocene sea otters (Enhydra lutris) from northern British Columbia: isotopic and zooarchaeological perspectives

We examined the isotopic composition (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) of sea otter (Enhydra lutris) bone collagen from ten late Holocene (ca. 5200 years BP–AD 1900) archaeological sites in northern British Columbia (BC), Canada. Because sea otters are now extinct from much of this region and have not fully recolonized their former range (e.g. Haida Gwaii and most of northern BC) these data represent an important first step towards better understanding sea otter foraging ecology in BC. The isotopic data suggest a diet composed primarily of benthic invertebrates, with a very low reliance on epibenthic fish. There is very low isotopic and thus inter-individual dietary variability in Holocene BC sea otters during the late Holocene. Furthermore, zooarchaeological abundance data suggest that otters represented a widespread and significant focus of aboriginal hunting practices on the northern BC coast during the mid- to late-Holocene. The consistent reliance on a small number of low-trophic level prey and limited dietary variability in Holocene BC sea otters may reflect top-down impacts on otter populations by aboriginal peoples. As part of our assessment of sea otter diet, we review trophic discrimination factors (Δ¹³C and Δ¹⁵N) for bone collagen from published literature and find marked variability, with mean values of +3.7 ± 1.6 for Δ¹³C (n = 21) and +3.6 ± 1.3 for Δ¹⁵N (n = 15).     

Notes on the quantification of post-medieval pottery in the Low Countries

Abstract

The quantification of material culture can make a significant contribution to the answering of social and behavioural questions. However, especially in continental Europe, this aspect of pottery studies remains understudied. In the following article, a status quaestionis of the quantification of post-medieval ceramics in the Low Countries is given. The author hopes to stimulate methodological and theoretical debate by comparing several available methods, using an 18th-century deposit from the abbey at Clairefontaine, Belgium. In so doing, some important insights are obtained into the relative merits of different quantification systems, and recommendations are made for future work.     

Raptor pellets as zooarchaeological material for paleoparasitological studies in Patagonia

Raptor pellets from Cerro Casa de Piedra archaeological sites, Patagonia, have yielded consistent evidence of parasitism and possible zoonoses in ancient times. Pellet samples analyzed were dated at 2740 ± 100 and 3.990 ± 80 years before present and have produced evidence of three intestinal parasite genera. Eggs of two nematodes Trichuris and Calodium, and one cestode, taeniid, were found. Its significance for rock shelters paleoepidemiology of the Holocene is discussed. This study increases the evidences that raptor pellets can be used as source of paleoparasitological information in archaeological sites.     

Aberglasney: the theory,history and archaeology of a post-medieval landscape

Abstract

Printed and documentary sources, archaeological excavation, dendrochronology and geophysical survey are employed to investigate the history of Aberglasney, a small country house near Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire (SN 5815 2213). Traditions about its garden layout, parapet walkway, a gatehouse and a yew ‘tunnel’ are examined. Circa 1600, Bishop Anthony Rudd (1549–1614) probably built a ‘cwrt’ enclosure aligned north-south. The gatehouse belonged to this or a later house. In 1770 or later, the Dyer family rebuilt the house, probably redesigned and rewalled the entire estate layout, when an earlier farm building was converted into the parapet walkway and stock pens, in an area later known as the ‘cloistered court’. In Victorian times this feature, originally a farmyard, became a pleasure garden, part of a typical Georgian-Victorian complex including a kitchen garden, glasshouses, orchards and fishpond. A yew grove was established, most likely c. 1805, when the Philipps family began planting in a Picturesque style. Abandoned c. 1950, house and garden became dilapidated. The site is now the object of a radical development programme, involving inter alia the stabilization of all buildings fabric, and imposing 16th-/17th-century style formal gardens over the 18th-/19th-century kitchen garden and orchard.     

Death in the sun: the bioarchaeology of an early post-medieval hospital in Gibraltar

SUMMARY: In 2014, during construction work at the ex-Civil Hospital in Gibraltar, excavations led by the Gibraltar Museum revealed a major, previously unknown burial ground containing more than 200 skeletons. We present the historical, archaeological and radiometric dating evidence from the site alongside the results of initial osteological analyses. The data indicate that the burials pertain to an earlier 16th-century Spanish hospice, and therefore stand to offer new insights into the functioning of this early modern hospital and the health and movements of people at a time of incipient globalization.     

Traditional pig herding practices in southwest Iberia: Questions of scale and zooarchaeological implications

Archaeological interpretations are interwoven with analogical reasoning. This paper presents a large volume of ethnographic data on traditional pig husbandry in modern Iberia and discusses their zooarchaeological importance. Europe-based ethnoarchaeological studies on traditional pig husbandry (e.g., in Sardinia/Corsica and Greece) have only recently made their appearance and have been proved environmentally and geographically more relevant than similar studies carried out in Asia. This paper presents archaeologically relevant data on a great variety of themes such as pig morphology, adaptation in and exploitation of environment, herd size and composition, the relations between wild and domestic populations, castration, breeding, genetic diversity, slaughtering practices, age-at-death, home range, control and movements, diet, weight, agricultural damage and products. The results show that traditional systems of animal husbandry do survive in Europe and their study widens and improves our interpretative framework. This Iberian-based study showed that domestic pig morphology is the combined result of the breeder’s selection and the pig’s adaptation to a given environment and husbandry system. Moreover, scale is a crucial factor significantly affecting all other aspects of a husbandry system.     

The problem of provenancing English post-medieval slipwares: a chemical and petrographic approach

Abstract

Trailed and combed slipwares are a common component of mid 17th- and 18th-century archaeological ceramic assemblages in England. Despite their widespread manufacture, pieces produced at different centres across England appear remarkably similar in terms of fabric and decoration. Inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry and petrography are employed to determine if chemical, mineralogical or technological traits can be used to indicate manufacturing provenance. Sherds from Bristol, North Staffordshire and South Yorkshire were analysed. The results reveal that they form cohesive chemical and petrographic groups that correlate with their place of manufacture, indicating potential for future studies of slipware production and distribution.     

Interpreting abundance indices: some zooarchaeological implications of Martu foraging

Indices of taxonomic abundance are commonly used by zooarchaeologists to examine resource intensification, overexploitation and gender-divisions in foraging labor. The original formulation of abundance indices developed a clear interpretive framework by linking the measure with foraging models from behavioral ecology. However, using the same basic tenets of behavioral ecology, archaeologists disagree about how to interpret variability in abundance index values: some suggest that high proportions of large prey remains represent higher overall foraging efficiency, while others argue the opposite. To help solve this problem, we use quantitative observational data with Martu hunters in Australia’s Western Desert to examine how foraging decisions and outcomes best predict variation in the abundance index values that result. We show that variation in the proportional remains of large to small game is best predicted by hunting bout success with larger prey and the time spent foraging for smaller prey. A declining abundance index results from decreasing hunting success with larger prey, increasing time invested in hunting smaller prey, or both; any of which result in a lower overall return rate than if large prey were acquired reliably. We also demonstrate that where large prey acquisition is stochastic, high index values are correlated positively with men’s proportional caloric contribution of large unreliable game, while low index values are correlated with women’s proportional foraging time for small reliable game. We discuss these results with reference to evidence of resource intensification and gender-specific foraging.     

Domestic material culture and post-medieval archaeology in Greece: a case-study from the Cyclades Islands

Abstract

The Kyklades or Cycladic Islands have always been popular amongst archaeologists working on the Aegean Bronze Age and the 'glorious' Classical Greek past. In contrast, not much light has been shed upon aspects of post-Roman life on the islands. Research into the post-medieval period has been a subject mainly for historians and folklorists. This paper attempts to explore aspects of the lifestyle of the peoples who inhabited this island group throughout the more recent, yet most neglected centuries of Greek history, using archaeological, textual and other sources and methods. My aim is to reconstruct everyday rural life in Greece, by focusing on the domestic sphere and addressing questions concerning society and the domestic material culture of a littoral area that has remained traditional until very recently.

This paper examines some first results of the CY.RE.P. (Cyclades Research Project) and introduces examples concerning the domestic material culture of the late medieval and post-medieval periods (early 13th–late 19th centuries) in the Aegean Islands of the Cyclades, with particular reference to housing, furniture and internal fittings, costumes and embroideries.     

Farmers and fields: developing a research agenda for post-medieval agrarian society and landscape

Abstract

This paper examines the discrepancy between the acknowledged historical importance of post-medieval rural society and the limited archaeological investigation and research on this theme. It considers developments in national research agendas in this field and the influences which have shaped them. There is a need to employ a more critical and analytical approach to landscape studies, giving consideration to the effects of perception, custom and attitude. Among the themes explored are the need for more interdisciplinary studies; for wider application of palaeoenvironmental and ecological analyses; and for a fuller understanding of regional differences. Throughout, the unique value of a specifically archaeological voice is emphasized.

The paper is based on a contribution to a seminar on research agendas for post-medieval archaeology in Britain, held by SPMA and hosted by the Society of Antiquaries of London in September 2002.     

Stable isotope evidence for palaeodiets in southern Turkmenistan during Historical period and Iron Age

The subsistence patterns of Iron Age and Historical period humans from south-western Turkmenistan have been reconstructed using the carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of archaeological faunal and human bones. A qualitative comparison of the isotopic signatures points to a small proportion of ruminant meat and dairy in human diet for both periods. The ranges of proportions of dietary items yielded by a quantitative approach based on concentration dependent mixing models confirm the high proportions of plant food in the average diet, and show little change in the reconstructed diet for both periods. A comparison of results from zooarchaeological and isotopic approaches illustrates their complementarity in subsistence patterns reconstruction.     

A conceptual model for freshwater mussel (family: Unionidae) remain preservation in zooarchaeological assemblages

Expectations for survival of vertebrate remains have been well developed and intensely studied in the zooarchaeological taphonomic literature. Taphonomic studies of shellfish remains focus on marine species and on variables relevant to remains from paleontological contexts (e.g., fossil marine beds). In this paper we develop a conceptual framework from which to derive expectations concerning the preservation of freshwater mussel remains focusing on two parameters, shell microstructure and shell shape. Shell size does not influence survivorship. Our model is validated through application to late Holocene zooarchaeological mussel assemblages from north Texas. Taphonomically robust species are important regarding zooarchaeological and biogeographic interpretations based on mussel paleofaunas, and fragile species are important indicators of whether or not an assemblage is well preserved.     

A late-medieval and post-medieval foundry in the historic centre of Dubrovnik Kasnosrednjovjekovna i novovjekovna ljevaonica u povijesnoj jezgri Dubrovnika

Abstract

An excavation on the site of the 'Gornji ugao' tower, in the north-west corner of the walled city of Dubrovnik, in Croatia, uncovered evidence for a foundry established in the second half of the 15th century and largely producing armaments. It is a rare example of this type of industrial site, and its position within the city walls makes it unique. Excavation has provided information on the technical subdivision and spatial logic of the site. Activity at the foundry ceased after the Great Earthquake in 1667, which devastated the entire city, although part of the site continued in use as a foundry, on a smaller and more improvised scale.

Arheolo?ka istra?ivanja provedena na lokalitetu Kula Gornji ugao, na sjeverozapadnom uglu povijesne jezgre Dubrovnika, dokazala su postojanje ljevaonice koja je po?ela funkcionirati u drugoj polovici 15. stolje?a. Spada u rijetke sa?uvane objekte takve vrste a smje?tena je unutar gradskih zidina ?to je ?ini jedinstvenim primjerom. Prona?eni dijelovi arhitekture ljevaonice omogu?ili su potpuno razumijevanje tehnolo?ke podijeljenosti i logike prostora. Upotreba ove ljevaonice na sjeverozapadnom uglu grada zamire nakon Velikog potresa 1667. Manji dio lokaliteta kasnije je ponovno u funkciji tako?er kao ljevaonica, no vi?e na improvizacijski na?in.