Grau-Sologestoa, I. orcid.org/0000-0003-1341-7326 and Albarella, U. orcid.org/0000-0001-5092-0532 (2019) The 'long' 16th century : a key period of animal husbandry change in England. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 11 (6). pp. 2781-2803. ISSN 1866-9557
Abstract
Although many historians have extensively discussed the agricultural history of England between the Late Middle Ages and the Modern Era, this period of crucial changes has received less attention by archaeologists. In this paper, zooarchaeological evidence dated between the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern period is analysed to investigate changes in animal husbandry during the ‘long’ sixteenth century. The size and shape of the main domestic animals (cattle, sheep, pig and chicken) is explored through biometrical data and discussed in line with evidence of taxonomic frequencies, ageing and sex ratios. Data from 12 sites with relevant chronologies and located in different areas of the country are considered. The results show that, although a remarkable size increase of animals occurred in England throughout the post-medieval period, much of this improvement occurred as early as the sixteenth century. The nature and causes of such improvement are discussed, with the aim of understanding the development of Early Modern farming and the foundations of the so-called Agricultural Revolution.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. |
Keywords: | Zooarchaeology; Biometry; Size increase; Early Modern Era; Britain |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (Sheffield) > Department of Archaeology (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 10 Oct 2018 14:53 |
Last Modified: | 22 Jan 2020 10:56 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Verlag |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1007/s12520-018-0723-6 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:136802 |
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