Objects, environment, and everyday life in medieval Europe : Environmental and artefact based approaches to dwelling in town and country

This volume presents Europe-wide perspectives on urban life in medieval Europe through the study of artefacts and environmental remains. Artefacts and environmental remains are abundant from archaeological excavations across Europe, but until now they have most commonly been used to accompany broader narratives built on historical sources and studies of topography and buildings, rather than being studied as important evidence in their own right. The papers in this volume aim to redress the balance by taking an environmental and artefact-based approach to life in medieval Europe. The contributions included here address central themes such as urban identities, the nature of towns and their relationship with their hinterlands, provisioning processes, and the role of ritual and religion in everyday life. Case studies from across Europe encourage a comparative approach between town and country, and provide a pan-European perspective to current debates. The volume is divided into four key parts: an exploration of the processes of provisioning; an assessment of the dynamics of urban population; an examination of domestic life; and a discussion of the status quaestionis and future potential of urban environmental archaeology. Together, these sections make a significant contribution to medieval archaeology and offer new and unique insights into the conditions of everyday life in medieval Europe. Front Matter ("Contents", "List of Illustrations"), p. i Free Access Introduction: Everyday Life in Medieval Europe, p. 1 Ben Jervis, Lee G. Broderick, Idoia Grau Sologestoa https://doi.org/10.1484/M.HDL-EB.5.109535 Part 1. Provisioning as Process Zooarchaeology at Medieval Ipswich: From wic to Regional Market Town, p. 19 Pam J. Crabtree https://doi.org/10.1484/M.HDL-EB.5.109536 An Archaeobotanical Perspective on Wooden Artefacts from Medieval Reykjavík, p. 41 Dawn E. Mooney https://doi.org/10.1484/M.HDL-EB.5.109537 Building the Towns: The Interrelationship Between Woodland History and Urban Life in Viking Age Ireland, p. 67 Eileen Reilly, Susan Lyons, Ellen O’Carroll, Lorna O’Donnell, Ingelise Stuijts, Adrienne Corless https://doi.org/10.1484/M.HDL-EB.5.109538 Urban Patterns of Animal Husbandry on Three Sites in Medieval Anatolia, p. 93 Evangelia Pişkin https://doi.org/10.1484/M.HDL-EB.5.109539 Part 2. Social Dynamics Patterns of Diversity: Using Ceramics to Examine the Social Topography of the Medieval Town of Płock, Poland, p. 113 Maciej Trzeciecki https://doi.org/10.1484/M.HDL-EB.5.109540 Meat Consumption as Identity of Status and Profession During the Middle Ages: A Review of the Zooarchaeological Evidence from Rome and Latium (Italy), p. 137 Claudia Minniti https://doi.org/10.1484/M.HDL-EB.5.109541 Mounts for Furnishings, Padlocks, and Candleholders: Understanding the Urbanization of Medieval England through Metal Small Finds Recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme, p. 157 Michael Lewis https://doi.org/10.1484/M.HDL-EB.5.109542 Part 3. Domestic Life Jeux sans Frontieres: Play and Performativity or Questions of Identity and Social Interaction Across Town and Country, p. 189 Mark A. Hall https://doi.org/10.1484/M.HDL-EB.5.109543 Runic Inscriptions on Stave Vessels in Turku: Materializations of Language, Education, Magic, and Domestic Religion, p. 213 Janne Harjula https://doi.org/10.1484/M.HDL-EB.5.109544 Changing Places? Place-making in Anglo-Saxon Hamwic, Southampton, and Winchester, p. 235 Ben Jervis https://doi.org/10.1484/M.HDL-EB.5.109545 Part 4. Studying the Town The Changing Role of Environmental Science in Archaeological Research in Copenhagen, p. 261 Hoda El-Sharnouby https://doi.org/10.1484/M.HDL-EB.5.109546 Soil Micromorphology in Urban Research: Early Medieval Antwerp (Belgium) and Viking Age Kaupang (Norway), p. 279 Barbora Wouters, Karen Milek, Yannick Devos, Dries Tys https://doi.org/10.1484/M.HDL-EB.5.109547 Human Dental Calculus and a Medieval Urban Environment, p. 297 Anita Radini, Efthymia Nikita, Lisa Marie Shillito https://doi.org/10.1484/M.HDL-EB.5.109548 Back Matter, p. 315 This volume presents Europe-wide perspectives on urban life in medieval Europe through the study of artefacts and environmental remains. 0Artefacts and environmental remains are abundant from archaeological excavations across Europe, but until now they have most commonly been used to accompany broader narratives built on historical sources and studies of topography and buildings, rather than being studied as important evidence in their own right. The papers in this volume aim to redress the balance by taking an environmental and artefact-based approach to life in medieval Europe.00The contributions included here address central themes such as urban identities, the nature of towns and their relationship with their hinterlands, provisioning processes, and the role of ritual and religion in everyday life. Case studies from across Europe encourage a comparative approach between town and country, and provide a pan-European perspective to current debates.00The volume is divided into four key parts: an exploration of the processes of provisioning; an assessment of the dynamics of urban population; an examination of domestic life; and a discussion of the status quaestionis and future potential of urban environmental archaeology. Together, these sections make a significant contribution to medieval archaeology and offer new and unique insights into the conditions of everyday life in medieval Europe "Artefacts and environmental remains are abundant from archaeological excavations across Europe, but until now they have most commonly been used to accompany broader narratives built on historical sources and studies of topography and buildings, rather than being studied as important evidence in their own right. The papers in this volume aim to redress the balance by taking an environmental and artefact-based approach to life in medieval Europe. The contributions included here address central themes such as urban identities, the nature of towns and their relationship with their hinterlands, provisioning processes, and the role of ritual and religion in everyday life. Case studies from across Europe encourage a comparative approach between town and country, and provide a pan-European perspective to current debates. The volume is divided into four key parts: an exploration of the processes of provisioning; an assessment of the dynamics of urban population; an examination of domestic life; and a discussion of the status quaestionis and future potential of urban environmental archaeology. Together, these sections make a significant contribution to medieval archaeology and offer new and unique insights into the conditions of everyday life in medieval Europe."--Page 4 of cover