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Feeding Anglo-Saxon England: a bioarchaeological dataset for the study of early medieval agriculture (Data paper)Open Data

Mark McKerracher, Helena Hamerow, Amy Bogaard, Christopher Bronk Ramsey, Michael Charles, Emily Forster, John Hodgson, Matilda Holmes, Samantha Neil, Tina Roushannafas, Elizabeth Stroud and Richard Thomas

Cite this as: McKerracher, M. et al. 2023 Feeding Anglo-Saxon England: a bioarchaeological dataset for the study of early medieval agriculture (Data paper), Internet Archaeology 61. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.61.5

Summary

Botanical survey in the open fields at Laxton, Nottinghamshire
Botanical survey in the open fields at Laxton, Nottinghamshire (Image credit: Feeding Anglo-Saxon England project)

The FeedSax project combined bioarchaeological data with evidence from settlement archaeology to investigate how, when and why the expansion of arable farming occurred between the 8th-13th centuries in England. It has generated and released a vast, multi-faceted archaeological dataset both to underpin its own published findings and to support further research.

Corresponding author: Helena HamerowORCID logo
helena.hamerow@arch.ox.ac.uk
School of Archaeology, University of Oxford

Mark McKerracherORCID logo
Sustainable Digital Scholarship service, University of Oxford

Amy BogaardORCID logo
School of Archaeology, University of Oxford

Christopher Bronk RamseyORCID logo
School of Archaeology, University of Oxford

Michael CharlesORCID logo
School of Archaeology, University of Oxford

Emily ForsterORCID logo
Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield

John Hodgson
School of Archaeology, University of Oxford

Matilda HolmesORCID logo
School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester

Samantha NeilORCID logo
School of Archaeology, University of Oxford

Tina RoushannafasORCID logo
Oxford Archaeology

Elizabeth StroudORCID logo
School of Archaeology, University of Oxford

Richard ThomasORCID logo
School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester

Full text

Figure 1: Charred cereal grains (Hordeum L.), in ventral view, from archaeological excavations at Lyminge, Kent (Image credit: Feeding Anglo-Saxon England project)

Figure 2: Botanical survey in the open fields at Laxton, Nottinghamshire (Image credit: Feeding Anglo-Saxon England project)

Figure 3: Taking peat/sediment samples using a Russian corer at Daisy Banks Fen, Oxfordshire (Image credit: Feeding Anglo-Saxon England project)

Allen, M., Blick, N., Brindle, T., Evans, T., Fulford, M., Holbrook, N., Lodwick, L., Richards, J.D., and Smith, A. 2018 The Rural Settlement of Roman Britain: an online resource [data-set], York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1030449

Bogaard, A., Hodgson, J., Kropp, C., McKerracher, M. and Stroud, E. 2022 'Lessons from Laxton, Highgrove and Lorsch: Building arable weed-based models for the investigation of early medieval agriculture in England' in M. McKerracher and H. Hamerow (eds) New Perspectives on the Medieval 'Agricultural Revolution': Crop, Stock and Furrow, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. 25-39. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv333ktnp.9

Forster, E. and Charles, M. 2022 'Agricultural Land Use in Central, East and South-East England: Arable or Pasture?' in M. McKerracher and H. Hamerow (eds) New Perspectives on the Medieval 'Agricultural Revolution': Crop, Stock and Furrow, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. 61-86. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv333ktnp.12

Hamerow, H. 2022 'The "FeedSax" Project: Rural Settlements and Farming in Early Medieval England' in M. McKerracher and H. Hamerow (eds) New Perspectives on the Medieval 'Agricultural Revolution': Crop, Stock and Furrow, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. 3-24. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv333ktnp.8

Hamerow, H., Bogaard, A., Charles, M., Forster, E., Holmes, M., McKerracher, M., Neil, S., Bronk Ramsey, C., Stroud, E. and Thomas, R. 2020 'An Integrated Bioarchaeological Approach to the Medieval "Agricultural Revolution": A Case Study from Stafford, England, c.AD 800-1200', European Journal of Archaeology 23(4), 585-609. https://doi.org/10.1017/eaa.2020.6

Hamerow, H., Bogaard, A., Charles, M., Forster, E., Holmes, M., McKerracher, M., Bronk Ramsey, C., Stroud, E. and Thomas, R. (forthcoming) Feeding Medieval England (700-1300). The Bioarchaeology of a Long 'Agricultural Revolution', Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Hamerow, H., McKerracher, M., Stroud, E. and Bogaard, A. 2021 'Weeds and seeds: how functional weed ecology can help reconstruct medieval farming', British Archaeology 181, 48-51.

Hamerow, H., McKerracher, M., Roushannafas, T., Stroud, E., Neil, S. 2023 Feeding Anglo-Saxon England grain photographs, University of Oxford. Collection. https://doi.org/10.25446/oxford.c.6641474.v1

Holmes, M. 2022 'Innovation, Technology and Social Change: The Adoption of the Mouldboard Plough and Its Impact on Human-Animal Relations' in M. McKerracher and H. Hamerow (eds) New Perspectives on the Medieval 'Agricultural Revolution': Crop, Stock and Furrow, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. 87-107. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv333ktnp.13

Holmes, M., Hamerow, H. and Thomas, R. 2021a 'Close Companions? A Zooarchaeological Study of the Human-Cattle Relationship in Medieval England', Animals 11(4), 1174. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11041174

Holmes, M., Thomas, R. and Hamerow, H. 2021b 'Lesions in sheep elbows: insights from a large-scale study', International Journal of Paleopathology 34, 50-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2021.05.007

Holmes, M., Thomas, R. and Hamerow, H. 2021c 'Identifying draught cattle in the past: lessons from large-scale analysis of archaeological datasets', International Journal of Paleopathology 33, 258-269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2021.05.004

Holmes, M., Thomas, R. and Hamerow, H. 2021d 'Periodontal disease in sheep and cattle: Understanding dental health in past animal populations', International Journal of Paleopathology 33, 43-54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2021.02.002

McKerracher, M. 2019 Anglo-Saxon Crops and Weeds: A Case Study in Quantitative Archaeobotany, Oxford: Archaeopress. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1zcm1wr

McKerracher, M. 2022 'Prospect and Protect: Syntironomy and Cereals in Early Medieval England' in M. McKerracher and H. Hamerow (eds) New Perspectives on the Medieval 'Agricultural Revolution': Crop, Stock and Furrow, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. 125-144. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv333ktnp.15

McKerracher, M., Croft, B., Stamper, P. and Wrathmell, S. 2021 'Late Saxon Crop Processing at Wharram Percy: new radiocarbon dates from the South Manor site', Medieval Settlement Research 36, 68-73.

McKerracher, M., Bogaard, A., Bronk Ramsey, C., Charles, M., Forster, E., Hamerow, H., Hodgson, J., Holmes, M., Neil, S., Roushannafas, T., Stroud, E., Thomas, R. 2023 Digital Archive for Feeding Anglo-Saxon England (FeedSax): The Bioarchaeology of an Agricultural Revolution, 2017-2022 [data-set], York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1057492

McKerracher, M., Hamerow, H. and Bronk Ramsey, C. in prep 'Medieval English Chronologies: implications of a major radiocarbon dating programme'.

Roushannafas, T. and McKerracher, M. in prep 'Diversity of Free-threshing Wheats in Early Medieval England Supported by Geometric Morphometric Analysis of Grains'.

Stroud, E. 2022 'Understanding Early Medieval Crop and Animal Husbandry through Isotopic Analysis' in M. McKerracher and H. Hamerow (eds) New Perspectives on the Medieval 'Agricultural Revolution': Crop, Stock and Furrow, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. 41-60. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv333ktnp.10

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