Provisioning Medieval Southampton: A bioarchaeological approach

Yang, Shu 2024. Provisioning Medieval Southampton: A bioarchaeological approach. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

Following past arguments climatic shifts, sociocultural transformations, urbanization and the Black Death during the medieval period significantly impacted all sectors of society, intertwining inseparably with food sources, agricultural practices and animal management. This thesis integrates zooarchaeological and stable isotope analysis of faunal remains to uncover these dynamics in the urban context of Southampton, an important medieval port, from 11th-16th century. Stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope analysis of bone from a range of wild and domestic animals (n=168), provide information about long-term diets and environmental niches of animals, as well as past human foodways. Stable carbon (δ13C) and oxygen (δ18O) isotope measurements on enamel carbonate of cattle M3 (n=8) and sheep M3 (n=12) were constructed to identify the short-term inputs and birth season, crucial for understanding the provisioning of products such as tender meat, milk. The collagen results demonstrated that δ13C and δ15N values for cattle and cats were broadly consistent between the 11th and 16th centuries, while two statistically significant diachronic variations were identified for δ15N values in pigs and sheep over time. The heterogeneity of isotopic signatures within and between species, and across archaeological periods, indicated extensive husbandry strategies, seasonal foddering choices, landscape use patterns and human-animal relationships. Key findings include evidence of the canopy effect, manuring, saltmarsh grazing, marine inputs, and anthropogenic waste impact on isotope values. This has implications for the ‘sheep-corn’ system on Hampshire chalkland, proliferating fishing trade, impacts from severe famines and Black Death, a change in the regional supply of meat and so forth. Modelled δ18O data for birth season align with zooarchaeological results, indicating orientation of economy and different economic decision-making for reproductive strategies dedicated to different food stock (cattle and sheep). This research brings new information and underscores the complexity of medieval animal husbandry and land use over time, providing important insights into the interplay between human, environment and animals in a historically significant region.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	History, Archaeology and Religion
Subjects:	C Auxiliary Sciences of History > CC Archaeology D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain Q Science > QH Natural history S Agriculture > SF Animal culture
Funders:	Medieval Settlement Research Group (MSRG)., MSDS Marine Award, Great Britain-China Educational Trust (GBCET), Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC)
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	3 January 2025
Date of Acceptance:	13 December 2024
Last Modified:	03 Jan 2025 15:47
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/174972

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