Peat re-excavated at the Abbey of Ename (Belgium): archaeobotanical evidence for peat extraction and long distance transport in Flanders around 1200 AD

Deforce, Koen; Bastiaens, Jan; Ameels, Vera

doi:10.1179/174963107x172750

Cited by 14 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Peat was widely used as fuel in Northern Belgium during the middle ages (Deforce et al, 2007a). Its ashes were, probably together with fragments of uncharred peat used to cover the surface of the cesspit (De Groote et al, 2009).…”

Section: Peatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pollen analysis of 15th century cesspits from the palace of the dukes of Burgundy in Bruges (Belgium): evidence for the use of honey from the western Mediterranean

Deforce¹

2010

Journal of Archaeological Science

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Section: Peatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pollen analysis of 15th century cesspits from the palace of the dukes of Burgundy in Bruges (Belgium): evidence for the use of honey from the western Mediterranean

Deforce¹

2010

Journal of Archaeological Science

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“…The three dominant taxa, Corylus avellana , Quercus and Alnus , produce and disperse a large quantity of pollen (Deforce et al . 2007). However, Corylus and Quercus grow in dryland forests while Alnus thrives in wetland.…”

Section: Results and Interpretationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Excavation of the peat for fuel was common in the coastal plain, especially during the medieval times (Deforce & Bastiaens 2007; Deforce et al . 2007; Jongepier et al . 2011), but also during the Roman period (de Boer 2006; Vos 2015; Baeteman 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Roman to medieval landscape transformation at Aardenburg (southern The Netherlands) based on palynology and diatom analysis

André,

de Ruijsscher,

De Clercq

et al. 2023

Boreas

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The region of Bruges (Flanders, Belgium) was an economic and cultural centre during the Late Middle Ages because it was connected to the North Sea via a large tidal inlet called the Zwin, along which smaller towns developed. One of these towns was Aardenburg (Zeeland, The Netherlands), which developed from a Roman castellum to become one of the important medieval towns in the hinterland of Bruges. Unfortunately, archaeological, historical and (palaeo)environmental data about the Roman to medieval evolution of the Zwin area are scarce. However, the continuous occupation of Aardenburg during the first millennium AD and its location on a Pleistocene sand ridge bordering the coastal plain provide a unique opportunity to investigate the natural dynamics of the coastal evolution and the interplay with the human impact that shaped the Zwin region before its heyday. The variable character of the depositional environments on the dynamic coastal plain makes local environmental studies essential for understanding larger patterns, which were previously reduced to a simplistic outdated model over the entire region. Palynological and diatom assemblages of two sequences in Aardenburg allow the reconstruction of the terrestrial and aquatic palaeoenvironments from the Middle Holocene to the high Middle Ages. The results reveal landscape evolution in relation to woodlands, peat bogs, coastal environments and human presence, consistent with previous regional landscape evolution. A distinct increase in marine influence during the Roman and early medieval periods, when human activities played a significant role, was followed by an increase in inland indicators from the high medieval period onwards. This evolution is in accordance with the expansion of the town and the reclamation of the coastal landscape as it evolved to become a cultural centre in the Late Middle Ages.

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“…Recent palynological analysis of 12th or 13th century peat blocks excavated at the former site of the Abbey of Ename near Oudenaarde, situated outside the coastal plain, has revealed that the medieval peat consumed by the abbey consisted of peat mosses and heather, both indicating oligotrophic conditions and thus peat bogs. In the 12th and 13th centuries, this abbey acquired possessions in the north of Flanders, including 'moorland' near Kluizen in the sandy part of northern Flanders, which may offer evidence for the existence of raised bogs in the region at the time (Deforce et al 2007).…”

Section: Holocene Peat Growth In Coastal Flandersmentioning

confidence: 99%

The brown gold: a reappraisal of medieval peat marshes in Northern Flanders (Belgium)

et al. 2011

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Peat re-excavated at the Abbey of Ename (Belgium): archaeobotanical evidence for peat extraction and long distance transport in Flanders around 1200 AD

Cited by 14 publications

References 7 publications

Pollen analysis of 15th century cesspits from the palace of the dukes of Burgundy in Bruges (Belgium): evidence for the use of honey from the western Mediterranean

Pollen analysis of 15th century cesspits from the palace of the dukes of Burgundy in Bruges (Belgium): evidence for the use of honey from the western Mediterranean

The Roman to medieval landscape transformation at Aardenburg (southern The Netherlands) based on palynology and diatom analysis

The brown gold: a reappraisal of medieval peat marshes in Northern Flanders (Belgium)

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