Agricultural development in Mid Saxon England
Over the past decade, historians and archaeologists have become increasingly aware that the Mid Saxon period in England (7th-9th centuries AD) witnessed a transformation in agricultural practices. According to the emergent consensus, in contrast to the heavily pastoral, broadly subsistence-based mode of agriculture characteristic of the Early Saxon period (5th-7th centuries), Mid Saxon agriculture was geared towards higher levels of surplus production and placed a greater emphasis upon arable farming. The increased cultivation of bread wheat and the specialist production of sheepâs wool have been identified as particularly important innovations of this period. This thesis represents the first attempt to explore agricultural development in Mid Saxon England on a systematic archaeological basis. It considers settlement, zooarchaeological, and archaeobotanical evidence in detail, with a special emphasis on charred plant remains. The analyses utilize data gathered from excavation reports, published and unpublished, covering two case study regions: (i) the Upper/Middle Thames valley and environs, and (ii) East Anglia and Essex. In addition, a sub-assemblage of charred plant remains from a Mid Saxon monastic site
McKerracher, Mark James
Archeology ; Anglo-Saxon England ; History of agriculture ; Anglo-Saxon ; agriculture ; archaeology ; archaeobotany ; zooarchaeology
Agricultural development in Mid Saxon England. Over the past decade, historians and archaeologists have become increasingly aware that the Mid Saxon period in England (7th-9th centuries AD) witnessed a transformation in agricultural practices. According to the emergent consensus, in contrast to the heavily pastoral, broadly subsistence-based mode of agriculture characteristic of the Early Saxon period (5th-7th centuries), Mid Saxon agriculture was geared towards higher levels of surplus production and placed a greater emphasis upon arable farming. The increased cultivation of bread wheat and the specialist production of sheepâs wool have been identified as particularly important innovations of this period. This thesis represents the first attempt to explore agricultural development in Mid Saxon England on a systematic archaeological basis. It considers settlement, zooarchaeological, and archaeobotanical evidence in detail, with a special emphasis on charred plant remains. The analyses utilize data gathered from excavation reports, published and unpublished, covering two case study regions: (i) the Upper/Middle Thames valley and environs, and (ii) East Anglia and Essex. In addition, a sub-assemblage of charred plant remains from a Mid Saxon monastic site
agricultural_development mid saxon england historians archaeologist become_increasingly aware mid saxon period england witness transformation agricultural_practice according emergent consensus contrast heavily pastoral broadly subsistence based mode agriculture characteristic early saxon_period mid saxon agriculture gear_towards high_level surplus production place great_emphasis upon arable_farming increase cultivation bread wheat specialist production sheep wool identify particularly_important innovation period represent_first attempt_explore agricultural_development mid saxon england systematic archaeological basis considers settlement zooarchaeological archaeobotanical_evidence detail special_emphasis char_plant remains analysis utilize data_gather excavation_report publish_unpublished cover two_case study region upper middle thames org valley environs east_anglia essex addition sub assemblage char_plant remain mid saxon monastic site