The Culture of Food in England 1200–1500

Woolgar, Christopher

doi:10.12987/yale/9780300181913.001.0001

Cited by 15 publications

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“…In contrast, the diets of the upper classes were supplemented daily by either meat or fish. [ 84 ]. In the industrial period, the quantity of meat eaten remained a crucial indicator of social status with the poorest subsisting on only bread, cheese and potatoes [ 46 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A dental revolution: The association between occlusion and chewing behaviour

2021

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Dentistry is confronted with the functional and aesthetic consequences that result from an increased prevalence of misaligned and discrepant dental occlusal relations in modern industrialised societies. Previous studies have indicated that a reduction in jaw size in response to softer and more heavily processed foods during and following the Industrial Revolution (1,700 CE to present) was an important factor in increased levels of poor dental occlusion. The functional demands placed on the masticatory system play a crucial role in jaw ontogenetic development; however, the way in which chewing behaviours changed in response to the consumption of softer foods during this period remains poorly understood. Here we show that eating more heavily processed food has radically transformed occlusal power stroke kinematics. Results of virtual 3D analysis of the dental macrowear patterns of molars in 104 individuals dating to the Industrial Revolution (1,700–1,900 CE), and 130 of their medieval and early post-medieval antecedents (1,100–1,700 CE) revealed changes in masticatory behaviour that occurred during the early stages of the transition towards eating more heavily processed foods. The industrial-era groups examined chewed with a reduced transverse component of jaw movement. These results show a diminished sequence of occlusal contacts indicating that a dental revolution has taken place in modern times, involving a dramatic shift in the way in which teeth occlude and wear during mastication. Molar macrowear suggests a close connection between progressive changes in chewing since the industrialization of food production and an increase in the prevalence of poor dental occlusion in modern societies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even so, the quantity would likely be meagre and would therefore be less likely to impact habitual masticatory behaviours [ 7 , 43 , 92 ]. Similarly, historical accounts indicate that sexual differences in the diets consumed in the medieval and early post-medieval periods were typically limited to supplementary items [ 84 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A dental revolution: The association between occlusion and chewing behaviour

2021

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“…This stands in contrast to a lipid residue study of late Saxon to early medieval pottery (AD 950 to 1450) from rural West Cotton, Northamptonshire (Dudd and Evershed 1998;Dunne et al 2019), where dairy products were shown to play a significant part in the peasant diet (c. 25%). However, West Cotton was an agricultural community, growing crops and managing cattle, sheep and pigs, and dairy products, sometimes referred to as 'white meats' of the poor, are thought to have been mainstays of the medieval peasant's diet (Woolgar 2016). The near absence of dairy lipids in the St Aldates vessels may be because dairy products were processed in different types of vessels (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Finding Oxford’s medieval Jewry using organic residue analysis, faunal records and historical documents

Dunne

Biddulph

Manix³

et al. 2021

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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Food is often one of the most distinctive expressions of social, religious, cultural or ethnic groups. However, the archaeological identification of specific religious dietary practices, including the Jewish tradition of keeping kosher, associated with ritual food practices and taboos, is very rare. This is arguably one of the oldest known diets across the world and, for an observant Jew, maintaining dietary laws (known as Kashruth) is a fundamental part of everyday life. Recent excavations in the early medieval Oxford Jewish quarter yielded a remarkable assemblage of animal bones, marked by a complete absence of pig specimens and a dominance of kosher (permitted) birds, domestic fowl and goose. To our knowledge, this is the first identification of a Jewish dietary signature in British zooarchaeology, which contrasted markedly with the previous Saxon phase where pig bones were present in quantity and bird bones were barely seen. Lipid residue analysis of pottery from St Aldates showed that vessels from the possible Jewish houses were solely used to process ruminant carcass products, with an avoidance of pig product processing, correlating well with the faunal data. In contrast, lipid analysis of pottery from comparative assemblages from the previous Saxon phase at the site and a contemporaneous site in the city, The Queen’s College, shows that the majority of these vessels appear to have been used to process mixtures of both ruminant and non-ruminant (pig) products. Here, the combination of organic residue analysis, site excavation and animal and fish bone evidence was consistent with the presence of Jewish houses in eleventh- and twelfth-century St Aldates, Oxford, hitherto only suspected through documentary information. This is the first identification of specific religious dietary practices using lipid residue analysis, verifying that, at least 800 years ago, medieval Jewish Oxford communities practised dietary laws known as Kashruth.

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“…Their emergence was most likely linked to the new culture of food and dining that was developing in the period, particularly-but not solely-among wealthier individuals. 68 Dining merited a space of its own, since dining rooms were not only concerned with eating, but were also spaces for ostentation and socializing, for the host to transmit his identity to his guests through his tastes. The objects recorded in inventories were, significantly, not just tables, benches, and chairs, but also decorative items, like weapons, glassware and pottery, decorated furnishings, and private devotional items.…”

Section: Resting Working and Productive Spacesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Transformation of Private Space in the Later Middle Ages: Rooms and Living Standards in the Kingdom of Valencia (1280-1450)

Fernández

González

2020

Journal of Urban History

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This article undertakes a quantitative and qualitative analysis of probate inventories from a selection of towns and highly urbanized areas from the kingdom of Valencia in the period 1280-1460, which are used to explore the inner distribution of more than 300 housings. Agreeing with the historiographical statement that this period was one of general improvement as to living standards and housing, this article reveals Valencian dwellings were provided with more specialized rooms since the late fourteenth century. This phenomenon was present particularly in the residences of townspeople living in large urban centers. Despite the predominant spatial simplicity of most late medieval housings, this article suggests more people enjoyed a more complex private space, which agreed with the needs of ostentation and privacy that characterized the new domestic culture that developed in the period.

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The Culture of Food in England 1200–1500

Cited by 15 publications

References 0 publications

A dental revolution: The association between occlusion and chewing behaviour

A dental revolution: The association between occlusion and chewing behaviour

Finding Oxford’s medieval Jewry using organic residue analysis, faunal records and historical documents

The Transformation of Private Space in the Later Middle Ages: Rooms and Living Standards in the Kingdom of Valencia (1280-1450)

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