Technology, ritual and Anglo-Saxon agriculture: the biography of a plough coulter from Lyminge, Kent

Thomas, Gabor; McDonnell, Gerry; Merkel, John F.; Marshall, P.

doi:10.15184/aqy.2016.73

Cited by 27 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…114 In this sense great hall complexes provide an instructive illustration of destruction/forgetting as an active part of the discourse of remembrance, see Connerton 1989, 72-89 andWilliams 2001. 115 For wider discussion of the relationship between ritual actions and the biography of Anglo-Saxon buildings see Hamerow 2006;2012, 127-42;Thomas et al 2016. 116 Hamerow 2006Sofield 2015.…”

Section: The Social Memory Of Royal Landscapes: Hall Building As a Gementioning

confidence: 99%

Mead-Halls of theOiscingas: A New Kentish Perspective on the Anglo-Saxon Great Hall Complex Phenomenon

Thomas¹

2018

Medieval Archaeology

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THE GREAT HALL complex represents one of the most distinctive and evocative expressions of the Anglo-Saxon settlement record, and is widely cited as a metaphor for the emergence of kingship in early medieval England. Yet interpretation of these sites remains underdeveloped and heavily weighted towards the excavated findings from the well-known site of Yeavering in Northumberland. Inspired by the results of recent excavations at Lyminge, Kent, this paper undertakes a detailed comparative interrogation of three great hall complexes in Kent, and exploits this new regional perspective to advance our understanding of the agency and embodied meanings of these settlements as 'theatres of power'. Explored through the thematic prisms of place, social memory and monumental hybridity, this examination leads to a new appreciation of the involvement of great hall sites in the genealogical strategies of 7th-century royal dynasties and a fresh perspective on how this remarkable, yet short-lived, monumental idiom was adapted to harness the symbolic capital of Romanitas. 262

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Section: The Social Memory Of Royal Landscapes: Hall Building As a Gementioning

confidence: 99%

Mead-Halls of theOiscingas: A New Kentish Perspective on the Anglo-Saxon Great Hall Complex Phenomenon

Thomas¹

2018

Medieval Archaeology

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“…The social value of early heavy plough technology that enabled increased production of previously uncultivated heavy, clay soils, is implied by the ritual deposition of implements such as coulters throughout Northwest Europe in the medieval period [ 79 , 80 ]. Some recognition of the importance of cattle within a community may also be evident in the deliberate burial of the lower legs of an animal in a mid-tenth to mid-eleventh century boundary ditch at Ketton, Northamptonshire [ 81 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Close Companions? A Zooarchaeological Study of the Human–Cattle Relationship in Medieval England

Holmes

Hamerow

Thomas

2021

Animals

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Across medieval Europe, cattle commanded a major, if shifting, economic and social value, and their use for meat, milk, and traction is well established. Although the changing roles of cattle throughout this period may have influenced relationships between humans and cattle, this has been largely neglected in historical and zooarchaeological studies. Data from nearly 700 archaeological assemblages of animal remains have been used to provide an overview of the herd structures (age and sex) of cattle populations for England between AD 450 and 1400. These have been analysed alongside pathological and sub-pathological changes in over 2800 lower limb bones of cattle from seventeen archaeological sites to provide a better understanding of the use of cattle for ploughing, hauling, and carting. The findings were considered alongside historical documents and ethnographic evidence to chart changing human–cattle relationships. Results indicate that human–cattle relations varied with changing economic, agricultural, and social practices. From the mid-fifth century, cattle were a form of portable wealth, however, by the mid-ninth century, they were perceived as a commodity with monetary value. From this period, close human–cattle bonds are likely to have been widespread between plough hands and working animals. Such bonds are may have diminished with the increasing number of young beef cattle kept to supply the urban population from the mid-eleventh century.

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“…A 6th–7th century plough coulter found in Kent is of remarkable manufacture, as it was constructed from piled structures of ferrite, phosphoric iron and steel; the character of this object seems more ritual than utilitarian, however, which possibly influenced its complex manufacture (Thomas et al . ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…, ; Thomas et al . ) add 340 iron artefacts analysed by metallography. Of those, only 33 objects were constructed using severe cold working (three reported by Tylecote and Gilmour , 54, 89; and 30 reported by Swiss and McDonnell , although they do not provide the exact number of items but refer to ‘many’), although it is acknowledged that this is not an exhaustive list and that other publications may be available that were not consulted.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Metallography of Medieval Agricultural and Quotidian Iron Utensils from the Rural Settlement of Zaballa (Basque Country)

García

Castillo

2018

Archaeometry

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This paper deals with the metallographic examination of 18 medieval iron objects of economic and domestic character, and is set out as preliminary results of the research project Basquesmith. This project aims to explore the production of iron utensils used by a specific part of the social spectrum: the peasantry. The artefacts, most of which date to the Early Medieval period (8th–10th centuries ad) were excavated at a single rural settlement in the region of the Álava Plain (northern Spain), and correspond to ordinary objects such as nails or scissors, which are under‐represented in archaeometric studies in favour of luxury and exotic items—typically weapons. The metallographic analysis revealed that most of the items are low carbon iron that had been extensively cold worked, whereas composite structures of iron and steel were less frequently present. The iron‐working technologies reconstructed here are discussed in relation to the accessibility of iron by the medieval rural communities, which is recurrently noted as scant by the written sources, as well as being supported by negative evidence in the archaeological record. Finally, a scenario on iron production during medieval times is explored that contradicts the purported paucity of iron within the rural communities.

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Technology, ritual and Anglo-Saxon agriculture: the biography of a plough coulter from Lyminge, Kent

Cited by 27 publications

References 32 publications

Mead-Halls of theOiscingas: A New Kentish Perspective on the Anglo-Saxon Great Hall Complex Phenomenon

Mead-Halls of theOiscingas: A New Kentish Perspective on the Anglo-Saxon Great Hall Complex Phenomenon

Close Companions? A Zooarchaeological Study of the Human–Cattle Relationship in Medieval England

The Metallography of Medieval Agricultural and Quotidian Iron Utensils from the Rural Settlement of Zaballa (Basque Country)

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