In the course of the fifth century, the farms and villas of lowland Britain were replaced by a ne... more In the course of the fifth century, the farms and villas of lowland Britain were replaced by a new, distinctive form of rural settlement: the settlements of the Anglo-Saxons. This volume presents the first major synthesis of the evidence -- which has expanded greatly in recent years -- for such settlements from across England and throughout the Anglo-Saxon period, and what it reveals about the communities who built and lived in them, and whose daily lives went almost wholly unrecorded.
THIS PAPER ADDRESSES THE QUESTION, who were the people who were buried at the early medieval Nort... more THIS PAPER ADDRESSES THE QUESTION, who were the people who were buried at the early medieval North Sea emporia? Conclusions about the mercantile character of the North Sea emporia are often based on portable material culture. In recognition of the fact that it is difficult to draw conclusions about the identities of people based on finds assemblages, two pilot projects have been completed that involved bioarchaeological analyses of cemetery populations associated with these sites. The first of these, the Investigating the Dead in Early Medieval Domburg project, undertook multi-disciplinary analyses of the (very small) surviving burial population from the mostly destroyed sites in the Domburg area (Netherlands), combining isotope analysis, radiocarbon dating, biological anthropology, dendro-chronology, and provenancing and study of previous use of coffin wood. The second, the Medieval Migrants of the North Sea World project, inventoried available isotopic evidence for human remains from emporia sites in England, the Netherlands and Scandinavia, alongside contextual archaeological information. This paper presents both projects, providing the detailed information from Domburg in its wider, international context, and highlighting the need for a comprehensive research agenda to fill current gaps in our understanding of early medieval emporia populations.
The effect that heating has on cereal grain morphology and isotopic values has far reaching conse... more The effect that heating has on cereal grain morphology and isotopic values has far reaching consequences for archaeobotanical research and palaeodietary reconstructions. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic data and mass loss percentages on, and photographs of, rye, oat, barley, wheat and spelt from a heating experiment are presented and support Stroud et al. (2023). The experiment heated rye, oat, and spelt at 215 °C, 230 °C, 245 °C, 260 °C and 300 °C for 4 h, 8h and 24 h, with each temperature/duration condition consisting of 3 samples of 10 grains per sample. The mass loss of the grains, the %C and %N, and δ13C and δ15N values are presented. Furthermore, photographs of the grains’ external and internal morphology for each temperature/duration combination are provided. The wheat and barley data of samples charred between 215 °C and 260 °C/ 4–24 h were obtained from the published and unpublished dataset of Nitsch et al. (2015) and it is this dataset which the new data builds upon. This article also provides the published and unpublished data and photographs from Nitsch et al. (2015), bringing together a dataset of nine crop species. This article provides the raw data from two cereal grain heating experiment, which will enable further research into understanding the impact of heating on both grain isotopic values and grain morphology. It also allows users to construct charred-uncharred isotopic offsets for a combination of species relevant to their research.
The 86th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, New Orleans, 2017
Poster presented at the American Association of Physical Anthropologists 2017 Conference (New Orl... more Poster presented at the American Association of Physical Anthropologists 2017 Conference (New Orleans, Louisiana)
The Anglo-Saxon rural settlement is a picture of far greater complexity and diversity than could ... more The Anglo-Saxon rural settlement is a picture of far greater complexity and diversity than could have been imagined at the time that Philip Rahtz's pioneering survey was published. Factors affecting the recognition of settlements clearly come into play when considering their geographical distribution. Serendipity will always have a role to play in the discovery of Anglo-Saxon settlements: the impressive, high-status settlement at Cowdery's Down, Hampshire, came to light during the investigation of a complex of cropmarks dating to the Bronze Age and Civil War era. The detailed stratigraphic sequences allowed changes in the configuration of the settlement to be traced in some detail. Explaining the unfeasibly high proportion of excavated settlements of the mid to late Saxon periods that display at least some of the trappings of high status in terms of their layout and buildings and/or their material culture will require further research.
The stable isotopic values of charred crops are now frequently analysed in archaeology. While pre... more The stable isotopic values of charred crops are now frequently analysed in archaeology. While previous research has highlighted how grain morphology and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values change with grain charring temperature, such research has been limited to temperature ranges under 260 ◦C and using predominately Mediterranean cereals and pulses. For the first time, this study provides experimental data on the impact of charring on two northern European cereals, rye and oat, both morphologically and isotopically. New experi- mental charring of rye, oat, bread wheat and hulled barley extends the charring window to 300 ◦C, providing an insight into the morphological changes to the grains as well as the difference between charred and uncharred isotopic values. This range of cereals and conditions opens up potential for stable isotopic investigation of me- dieval agricultural growing conditions and practices in Britain. The results indicate that isotopically, a 0.16‰ and a 0.32‰ offset should be applied to δ13C and δ15N values, respectively, of grains charred between 230 and 300 ◦C. Morphological and internal structural changes, as well as external distortion, are key attributes which vary with charring temperature and duration. Guidelines are provided to enable assessment of whether archaeological grains of bread wheat, hulled barley, rye and oat fall within the acceptable charring window for isotopic analysis.
The FeedSax project combined bioarchaeological data with evidence from settlement archaeology to ... more The FeedSax project combined bioarchaeological data with evidence from settlement archaeology to investigate how, when and why the expansion of arable farming occurred between the 8th-13th centuries in England. It has generated and released a vast, multi-faceted archaeological dataset both to underpin its own published findings and to support further research.
The effect that heating has on cereal grain morphology and isotopic values has far reaching conse... more The effect that heating has on cereal grain morphology and isotopic values has far reaching consequences for archaeobotanical research and palaeodietary reconstructions. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic data and mass loss percentages on, and photographs of, rye, oat, barley, wheat and spelt from a heating experiment are presented and support Stroud et al. (2023). The experiment heated rye, oat, and spelt at 215 °C, 230 °C, 245 °C, 260 °C and 300 °C for 4 h, 8h and 24 h, with each temperature/duration condition consisting of 3 samples of 10 grains per sample. The mass loss of the grains, the %C and %N, and δ13C and δ15N values are presented. Furthermore, photographs of the grains’ external and internal morphology for each temperature/duration combination are provided. The wheat and barley data of samples charred between 215 °C and 260 °C/ 4–24 h were obtained from the published and unpublished dataset of Nitsch et al. (2015) and it is this dataset which the new data builds upon. This article also provides the published and unpublished data and photographs from Nitsch et al. (2015), bringing together a dataset of nine crop species. This article provides the raw data from two cereal grain heating experiment, which will enable further research into understanding the impact of heating on both grain isotopic values and grain morphology. It also allows users to construct charred-uncharred isotopic offsets for a combination of species relevant to their research.
The stable isotopic values of charred crops are now frequently analysed in archaeology. While pre... more The stable isotopic values of charred crops are now frequently analysed in archaeology. While previous research has highlighted how grain morphology and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values change with grain charring temperature, such research has been limited to temperature ranges under 260 ◦C and using predominately Mediterranean cereals and pulses. For the first time, this study provides experimental data on the impact of charring on two northern European cereals, rye and oat, both morphologically and isotopically. New experi- mental charring of rye, oat, bread wheat and hulled barley extends the charring window to 300 ◦C, providing an insight into the morphological changes to the grains as well as the difference between charred and uncharred isotopic values. This range of cereals and conditions opens up potential for stable isotopic investigation of me- dieval agricultural growing conditions and practices in Britain. The results indicate that isotopically, a 0.16‰ and a 0.32‰ offset should be applied to δ13C and δ15N values, respectively, of grains charred between 230 and 300 ◦C. Morphological and internal structural changes, as well as external distortion, are key attributes which vary with charring temperature and duration. Guidelines are provided to enable assessment of whether archaeological grains of bread wheat, hulled barley, rye and oat fall within the acceptable charring window for isotopic analysis.
This paper presents results from a research project (‘Feeding Anglo-Saxon England. The Bioarchaeo... more This paper presents results from a research project (‘Feeding Anglo-Saxon England. The Bioarchaeology of an Agricultural Revolution’ hereafter FeedSax), that aims to generate direct evidence for the cultivation regimes that sustained, between c. AD 800–1200, an exceptionally rapid growth of populations, towns, and markets and enabled landowners to amass considerable wealth. The paper presents results for sites in the Rhineland, in relation to two key innovations that made this increase in overall grain yields possible: systematic crop rotation, which enabled a larger proportion of arable land to be brought under cultivation and winter and summer crops to be grown in the same year; and extensive, ‘low input’ cultivation regimes which maintained the fertility of fields by means of regular, short fallow periods rather than by intensive manuring.
In the course of the fifth century, the farms and villas of lowland Britain were replaced by a ne... more In the course of the fifth century, the farms and villas of lowland Britain were replaced by a new, distinctive form of rural settlement: the settlements of the Anglo-Saxons. This volume presents the first major synthesis of the evidence -- which has expanded greatly in recent years -- for such settlements from across England and throughout the Anglo-Saxon period, and what it reveals about the communities who built and lived in them, and whose daily lives went almost wholly unrecorded.
THIS PAPER ADDRESSES THE QUESTION, who were the people who were buried at the early medieval Nort... more THIS PAPER ADDRESSES THE QUESTION, who were the people who were buried at the early medieval North Sea emporia? Conclusions about the mercantile character of the North Sea emporia are often based on portable material culture. In recognition of the fact that it is difficult to draw conclusions about the identities of people based on finds assemblages, two pilot projects have been completed that involved bioarchaeological analyses of cemetery populations associated with these sites. The first of these, the Investigating the Dead in Early Medieval Domburg project, undertook multi-disciplinary analyses of the (very small) surviving burial population from the mostly destroyed sites in the Domburg area (Netherlands), combining isotope analysis, radiocarbon dating, biological anthropology, dendro-chronology, and provenancing and study of previous use of coffin wood. The second, the Medieval Migrants of the North Sea World project, inventoried available isotopic evidence for human remains from emporia sites in England, the Netherlands and Scandinavia, alongside contextual archaeological information. This paper presents both projects, providing the detailed information from Domburg in its wider, international context, and highlighting the need for a comprehensive research agenda to fill current gaps in our understanding of early medieval emporia populations.
The effect that heating has on cereal grain morphology and isotopic values has far reaching conse... more The effect that heating has on cereal grain morphology and isotopic values has far reaching consequences for archaeobotanical research and palaeodietary reconstructions. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic data and mass loss percentages on, and photographs of, rye, oat, barley, wheat and spelt from a heating experiment are presented and support Stroud et al. (2023). The experiment heated rye, oat, and spelt at 215 °C, 230 °C, 245 °C, 260 °C and 300 °C for 4 h, 8h and 24 h, with each temperature/duration condition consisting of 3 samples of 10 grains per sample. The mass loss of the grains, the %C and %N, and δ13C and δ15N values are presented. Furthermore, photographs of the grains’ external and internal morphology for each temperature/duration combination are provided. The wheat and barley data of samples charred between 215 °C and 260 °C/ 4–24 h were obtained from the published and unpublished dataset of Nitsch et al. (2015) and it is this dataset which the new data builds upon. This article also provides the published and unpublished data and photographs from Nitsch et al. (2015), bringing together a dataset of nine crop species. This article provides the raw data from two cereal grain heating experiment, which will enable further research into understanding the impact of heating on both grain isotopic values and grain morphology. It also allows users to construct charred-uncharred isotopic offsets for a combination of species relevant to their research.
The 86th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, New Orleans, 2017
Poster presented at the American Association of Physical Anthropologists 2017 Conference (New Orl... more Poster presented at the American Association of Physical Anthropologists 2017 Conference (New Orleans, Louisiana)
The Anglo-Saxon rural settlement is a picture of far greater complexity and diversity than could ... more The Anglo-Saxon rural settlement is a picture of far greater complexity and diversity than could have been imagined at the time that Philip Rahtz's pioneering survey was published. Factors affecting the recognition of settlements clearly come into play when considering their geographical distribution. Serendipity will always have a role to play in the discovery of Anglo-Saxon settlements: the impressive, high-status settlement at Cowdery's Down, Hampshire, came to light during the investigation of a complex of cropmarks dating to the Bronze Age and Civil War era. The detailed stratigraphic sequences allowed changes in the configuration of the settlement to be traced in some detail. Explaining the unfeasibly high proportion of excavated settlements of the mid to late Saxon periods that display at least some of the trappings of high status in terms of their layout and buildings and/or their material culture will require further research.
The stable isotopic values of charred crops are now frequently analysed in archaeology. While pre... more The stable isotopic values of charred crops are now frequently analysed in archaeology. While previous research has highlighted how grain morphology and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values change with grain charring temperature, such research has been limited to temperature ranges under 260 ◦C and using predominately Mediterranean cereals and pulses. For the first time, this study provides experimental data on the impact of charring on two northern European cereals, rye and oat, both morphologically and isotopically. New experi- mental charring of rye, oat, bread wheat and hulled barley extends the charring window to 300 ◦C, providing an insight into the morphological changes to the grains as well as the difference between charred and uncharred isotopic values. This range of cereals and conditions opens up potential for stable isotopic investigation of me- dieval agricultural growing conditions and practices in Britain. The results indicate that isotopically, a 0.16‰ and a 0.32‰ offset should be applied to δ13C and δ15N values, respectively, of grains charred between 230 and 300 ◦C. Morphological and internal structural changes, as well as external distortion, are key attributes which vary with charring temperature and duration. Guidelines are provided to enable assessment of whether archaeological grains of bread wheat, hulled barley, rye and oat fall within the acceptable charring window for isotopic analysis.
The FeedSax project combined bioarchaeological data with evidence from settlement archaeology to ... more The FeedSax project combined bioarchaeological data with evidence from settlement archaeology to investigate how, when and why the expansion of arable farming occurred between the 8th-13th centuries in England. It has generated and released a vast, multi-faceted archaeological dataset both to underpin its own published findings and to support further research.
The effect that heating has on cereal grain morphology and isotopic values has far reaching conse... more The effect that heating has on cereal grain morphology and isotopic values has far reaching consequences for archaeobotanical research and palaeodietary reconstructions. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic data and mass loss percentages on, and photographs of, rye, oat, barley, wheat and spelt from a heating experiment are presented and support Stroud et al. (2023). The experiment heated rye, oat, and spelt at 215 °C, 230 °C, 245 °C, 260 °C and 300 °C for 4 h, 8h and 24 h, with each temperature/duration condition consisting of 3 samples of 10 grains per sample. The mass loss of the grains, the %C and %N, and δ13C and δ15N values are presented. Furthermore, photographs of the grains’ external and internal morphology for each temperature/duration combination are provided. The wheat and barley data of samples charred between 215 °C and 260 °C/ 4–24 h were obtained from the published and unpublished dataset of Nitsch et al. (2015) and it is this dataset which the new data builds upon. This article also provides the published and unpublished data and photographs from Nitsch et al. (2015), bringing together a dataset of nine crop species. This article provides the raw data from two cereal grain heating experiment, which will enable further research into understanding the impact of heating on both grain isotopic values and grain morphology. It also allows users to construct charred-uncharred isotopic offsets for a combination of species relevant to their research.
The stable isotopic values of charred crops are now frequently analysed in archaeology. While pre... more The stable isotopic values of charred crops are now frequently analysed in archaeology. While previous research has highlighted how grain morphology and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values change with grain charring temperature, such research has been limited to temperature ranges under 260 ◦C and using predominately Mediterranean cereals and pulses. For the first time, this study provides experimental data on the impact of charring on two northern European cereals, rye and oat, both morphologically and isotopically. New experi- mental charring of rye, oat, bread wheat and hulled barley extends the charring window to 300 ◦C, providing an insight into the morphological changes to the grains as well as the difference between charred and uncharred isotopic values. This range of cereals and conditions opens up potential for stable isotopic investigation of me- dieval agricultural growing conditions and practices in Britain. The results indicate that isotopically, a 0.16‰ and a 0.32‰ offset should be applied to δ13C and δ15N values, respectively, of grains charred between 230 and 300 ◦C. Morphological and internal structural changes, as well as external distortion, are key attributes which vary with charring temperature and duration. Guidelines are provided to enable assessment of whether archaeological grains of bread wheat, hulled barley, rye and oat fall within the acceptable charring window for isotopic analysis.
This paper presents results from a research project (‘Feeding Anglo-Saxon England. The Bioarchaeo... more This paper presents results from a research project (‘Feeding Anglo-Saxon England. The Bioarchaeology of an Agricultural Revolution’ hereafter FeedSax), that aims to generate direct evidence for the cultivation regimes that sustained, between c. AD 800–1200, an exceptionally rapid growth of populations, towns, and markets and enabled landowners to amass considerable wealth. The paper presents results for sites in the Rhineland, in relation to two key innovations that made this increase in overall grain yields possible: systematic crop rotation, which enabled a larger proportion of arable land to be brought under cultivation and winter and summer crops to be grown in the same year; and extensive, ‘low input’ cultivation regimes which maintained the fertility of fields by means of regular, short fallow periods rather than by intensive manuring.
Details apart, Animals in Celtic life and myth shares with several of the author's earlier wo... more Details apart, Animals in Celtic life and myth shares with several of the author's earlier works some minor annoyances such as a cumbersome combined footnote and 'Harvard' referencing system and under-documented and often over-schematic line illustrations—though as far as the latter are concerned we are glad to notice that we seem to have provided the secondary sources for many of them. Again, as previously, there is evidence that the author is more at home in the British Isles and France than in central or eastern Europe; after all there were Celts—in the conventional sense—well to the east of their stated eastern limit in the former Czechoslovakia (p. xvii). The author is obviously well aware of the difficulties of mixing literary and archaeological sources in a survey volume which is organized by subject rather than being region or chronology-based. In order, presumably, to aid comprehension a fair degree of repetition is apparent—compare the comments on 'firedogs' (ioo, 141 and 221).
Garnet-inlaid metalwork is one of the most instantly recognizable emblems of the elite culture th... more Garnet-inlaid metalwork is one of the most instantly recognizable emblems of the elite culture that emerged in the North Sea zone during the 5th to 7th centuries. The giving and receiving of such precious objects played a key role in cementing socio-political relationships, by enhancing the honour of both donor and recipient. Provenance studies are revealing the sources from which the garnets used in early medieval metalwork originated. Remarkably little, however, is known of the conditions in which trade in these gemstones was conducted and how they circulated within northwest Europe and Scandinavia. This paper approaches these questions by considering where garnets are likely to have entered North Sea (and Baltic) exchange networks; what the decline in the availability of garnets – especially the timing of that decline -- suggests about the networks by which they circulated, and whether scientific analysis can shed light on how garnets circulated amongst merchants, goldsmiths and clients.
A Saxon gold pendant was recovered from grave 55280 in
a small Anglo-Saxon cemetery located withi... more A Saxon gold pendant was recovered from grave 55280 in a small Anglo-Saxon cemetery located within the bounds of the deserted medieval settlement of Westbury-by- Shenley (see Westbury Cat. No. 1). The pendant was submitted to the University of Durham, Department of Archaeology, Conservation Laboratory for analysis and conservation. A full report on the conservation and analysis of this pendant is contained within the site archive and the following account is a summary of the technical analytical and stylistic attributes described in that report.
Poster presented at the American Association of Physical Anthropologists 2017 Conference (New Orl... more Poster presented at the American Association of Physical Anthropologists 2017 Conference (New Orleans, Louisiana)
This paper presents results from a research project (‘Feeding Anglo-Saxon England. The Bioarchaeo... more This paper presents results from a research project (‘Feeding Anglo-Saxon England. The Bioarchaeology of an Agricultural Revolution’ hereafter FeedSax), that aims to generate direct evidence for the cultivation regimes that sustained, between c. AD 800–1200, an exceptionally rapid growth of populations, towns, and markets and enabled landowners to amass considerable wealth. The paper presents results for sites in the Rhineland, in relation to two key innovations that made this increase in overall grain yields possible: systematic crop rotation, which enabled a larger proportion of arable land to be brought under cultivation and winter and summer crops to be grown in the same year; and extensive, ‘low input’ cultivation regimes which maintained the fertility of fields by means of regular, short fallow periods rather than by intensive manuring.
Objectives: Enthesophytes on sheep elbow joints are commonly reported in archaeological material.... more Objectives: Enthesophytes on sheep elbow joints are commonly reported in archaeological material. Although these lesions are often described as ‘penning elbow’, little is known of their aetiology. In this study, a new method for recording these lesions is presented, and the effect of age, sex and body size is explored to understand their potential for informing upon past human-animal interactions.
Materials: 1133 distal humerii and proximal radii from 16 archaeological sites.
Methods: The presence and severity of enthesophytes were recorded and findings compared with modern data from a group of 17 complete Soay sheep skeletons.
Results: Significant, positive correlations between age and body size and the presence of enthesophytes were demonstrated. Environmental factors and trauma may also play a role in their formation.
Conclusion: The aetiology of enthesophytes on sheep elbows is complex and varied, affected by age, body size and environment.
Significance: This is the first study of enthesophytes on sheep elbows to combine archaeological data with modern animals of known age and sex. Blanket explanations of husbandry methods for the cause of these lesions are dispelled, and use of the term ‘penning elbow’ is redundant.
Limitations: The sample of modern specimens is relatively small and would benefit from the inclusion of older individuals and those raised in different environments.
Future research: The method developed here can be adopted in future studies.
Interpretations should take age, size and environmental factors into consideration, and only when these variables are established can the role of husbandry be evaluated.
Objective: To provide a comparative baseline for future studies of oral pathology in domestic liv... more Objective: To provide a comparative baseline for future studies of oral pathology in domestic livestock and to better understand connections between lesion prevalence and biological context in past animal populations. Materials: Over 1600 sheep and cattle mandibles recovered from archaeological sites in England between 500 and 1300 CE. Methods: A comprehensive investigation of periodontal disease was conducted based on four characteristics: dental calculus; periosteal new bone formation; alveolar recession; and ante-mortem tooth loss. The anatomical position and severity of these lesions were quantified and correlated against the age of each individual. Results: Two types of periosteal new bone formation were recognized: one in the growing mandibles of young animals, the other in older animals and associated with disease. The incidence of calculus and alveolar recession increase with age. Correlations exist between calculus, alveolar recession and periosteal new bone formation. Disruption caused by the eruption of the P4 is also implied as a contributory factor to the onset of periodontal disease. Conclusions: When interpreting periodontal disease in zooarchaeological collections it is vital to consider the effect of age as well as environmental and genetic factors. Significance: This is the first comprehensive zooarchaeological study to investigate the effect of age on peri-odontal disease. It provides a better understanding of the frequency and presentation of periodontal disease as a baseline for future studies. Limitations: Cattle mandibles are under-represented due to poor survival. Ideally, radiographs of mandibles with ante-mortem tooth loss would be taken, but this was not possible. Suggestions for further research: The role of genetic factors, diet and environment needs to be better understood.
The effect that heating has on cereal grain morphology and isotopic values has far reaching conse... more The effect that heating has on cereal grain morphology and isotopic values has far reaching consequences for archaeobotanical research and palaeodietary reconstructions. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic data and mass loss percentages on, and photographs of, rye, oat, barley, wheat and spelt from a heating experiment are presented and support Stroud et al. (2023). The experiment heated rye, oat, and spelt at 215 °C, 230 °C, 245 °C, 260 °C and 300 °C for 4 h, 8h and 24 h, with each temperature/duration condition consisting of 3 samples of 10 grains per sample. The mass loss of the grains, the %C and %N, and δ13C and δ15N values are presented. Furthermore, photographs of the grains’ external and internal morphology for each temperature/duration combination are provided. The wheat and barley data of samples charred between 215 °C and 260 °C/ 4–24 h were obtained from the published and unpublished dataset of Nitsch et al. (2015) and it is this dataset which the new data builds upon. This article also provides the published and unpublished data and photographs from Nitsch et al. (2015), bringing together a dataset of nine crop species. This article provides the raw data from two cereal grain heating experiment, which will enable further research into understanding the impact of heating on both grain isotopic values and grain morphology. It also allows users to construct charred-uncharred isotopic offsets for a combination of species relevant to their research.
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a small Anglo-Saxon cemetery located within the bounds
of the deserted medieval settlement of Westbury-by-
Shenley (see Westbury Cat. No. 1). The pendant was
submitted to the University of Durham, Department of
Archaeology, Conservation Laboratory for analysis and
conservation. A full report on the conservation and analysis
of this pendant is contained within the site archive and
the following account is a summary of the technical analytical
and stylistic attributes described in that report.
considerable wealth. The paper presents results for sites in the Rhineland, in relation to two key innovations that made this increase in overall grain yields possible: systematic crop rotation, which enabled a larger proportion of arable land to be brought under cultivation and winter and summer crops to be grown in the same year; and extensive, ‘low input’ cultivation regimes which maintained the fertility of fields by means of regular, short fallow periods rather than by intensive manuring.
Materials: 1133 distal humerii and proximal radii from 16 archaeological sites.
Methods: The presence and severity of enthesophytes were recorded and findings compared with modern data from a group of 17 complete Soay sheep skeletons.
Results: Significant, positive correlations between age and body size and the presence of enthesophytes were demonstrated. Environmental factors and trauma may also play a role in their formation.
Conclusion: The aetiology of enthesophytes on sheep elbows is complex and varied, affected by age, body size and environment.
Significance: This is the first study of enthesophytes on sheep elbows to combine archaeological data with modern animals of known age and sex. Blanket explanations of husbandry methods for the cause of these lesions are dispelled, and use of the term ‘penning elbow’ is redundant.
Limitations: The sample of modern specimens is relatively small and would benefit from the inclusion of older individuals and those raised in different environments.
Future research: The method developed here can be adopted in future studies.
Interpretations should take age, size and environmental factors into consideration, and only when these variables are established can the role of husbandry be evaluated.