Digital Archive for Feeding Anglo-Saxon England (FeedSax): The Bioarchaeology of an Agricultural Revolution, 2017-2022
Mark McKerracher, Amy Bogaard, Christopher Bronk Ramsey, Michael Charles, Emily Forster, Helena Hamerow, John Hodgson, Matilda Holmes, Samantha Neil, Tina Roushannafas, Elizabeth Stroud, Richard Thomas, 2023. https://doi.org/10.5284/1057492. How to cite using this DOI
Data copyright © Prof Helena Hamerow unless otherwise stated
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Primary contact
Prof
Helena
Hamerow
Institute of Archaeology
University of Oxford
36 Beaumont St
Oxford
OX1 2PG
England
Tel: 01865 278240
Fax: 01865 278254
Resource identifiers
- ADS Collection: 3605
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1057492
- How to cite using this DOI
Overview
The interdisciplinary nature of the FeedSax project has resulted in a large and multifaceted digital archive, incorporating evidence from zooarchaeology, archaeobotany, palynology, stable isotope analysis and radiocarbon dating. Some parts of the archive pertain specifically to a selection of intensively-studied case study sites, while others embrace larger datasets at a regional or national level.
The national dataset includes a compilation of quantitative bioarchaeological evidence from excavated sites across England, spanning the 7th to 13th centuries AD. This dataset comprises (i) records of charred plant remains, at context/sample level; (ii) ratios of cattle, sheep/goat and pig bones at site/phase level; (iii) mandibular age-at-death records for cattle and sheep at site/phase level; and (iv) pollen sequences. These data have been gleaned from published excavation reports, the so-called 'grey literature' produced by commercial development-led archaeology, and also original studies and fieldwork undertaken as part of the FeedSax project.
Several case study sites were also selected for more intensive analysis, in view of their location, phasing, the accessibility of their physical archives, and the abundance and preservation quality of their bioarchaeological remains. These case studies have contributed several different datasets to the digital archive, in addition to those collated at a national level, although not all case studies produced all of the following kinds of evidence: (i) radiocarbon dates obtained from charred cereal grains and animal bones; (ii) measurements of cattle and sheep limb bones and mandibles, with a particular emphasis on pathological indicators pertaining to physical stresses and diet; and (iii) carbon and nitrogen stable isotope readings obtained from bones of livestock and charred cereal grains. Interpretations of the archaeobotanical crop stable isotope work drew upon experimental analyses of modern cereal grains, the results of which are also included in the digital archive.
