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IMC 2019: Sessions

Session 552: Forms of Domestic Consumption in Medieval Britain and France

Tuesday 2 July 2019, 09.00-10.30

Moderator/Chair:Michael Carter, Curatorial Department, English Heritage, London
Paper 552-aNew Looks on Meat Food in Medieval Provence: The Joint Contribution of Archival and Archaeozoological Data
(Language: English)
Dianne Unsain, Laboratoire d'archéologie médiévale et moderne en Méditerranée (LA3M - UMR 7298), Aix-Marseille Université
Roxanne Cesarini, Laboratoire d'archéologie médiévale et moderne en Méditerranée (LA3M - UMR 7298), Aix-Marseille Université
Index terms: Archaeology - Artefacts, Daily Life, Economics - Trade, Local History
Paper 552-bThe Wheel-Plough in Medieval Britain
(Language: English)
Janken Myrdal, Department of Economic History & International Relations, Stockholms Universitet
Index terms: Archaeology - General, Art History - General, Ecclesiastical History
Abstract

Paper -a:
Studies on animal consumption (products/by-products) are central to tackle issues of taste and culinary practices in a given context, but also topics as diverse as economics, social differences, and agro-pastoral practices. We propose to broach these different points to discuss the existence of a possible Provencal consumption model in the Middle Ages, based on the comparison of archival and zooarchaeological data. In this perspective, the acquisition and management of animal resources will be addressed through the study of animal sizes, herd composition, and mobility. Then, we will base on the raw material (product/by-product) to consider the types of production, trade, consumption, and management of culinary waste. The objective is to identify similarities and particularities that will be the driving force behind a reflection on the social identity of consumers.

Paper -b:
The wheel-plough is regarded as a principal agrarian innovation. Certainly modern research has identified a long and complex history; nevertheless a major change occurred in the centuries around the 11th century, with larger shares, etc. In a project Janken Myrdal and Alexandra Sapoznik combine an investigation of details in English manorial accounts, archaeological finds, experiments and images. One of the goals is to show the enormous iron-consumption caused by the ploughs with larger shares in the High Middle Ages. Another goal is to show that this enormous machine was vulnerable, and perhaps its efficiency has been overestimated.