- United Kingdom
Sander Aerts
Wessex Archaeology, Geoservices, Department Member
- Universiteit Leiden, Archaeology, Alumnusadd
The central question of this article is whether medieval manure pits that have been uncovered by archaeologists may have functioned as hotbeds. We tackled this issue in three ways: 1) We surveyed archaeology reports of manure pits for... more
The central question of this article is whether medieval manure pits that have been uncovered by archaeologists may have functioned as hotbeds. We tackled this issue in three ways: 1) We surveyed archaeology reports of manure pits for information on archaeological appearance and information on plant and insect remains from the pits. 2) We built hotbeds at the living museum Archeon in which we cultivated chard, a type of spinach. 3) We chose three pits that had been designated as manure pits during field work to determine whether they could have been hotbeds. Applying our hotbed ‘method’ to manure pits in published reports to determine whether they were hotbeds was challenging because no one single manure pit met the basic requirements that it had been designated as such in the field and that both the top and bottom layers had been studied for fauna and insect remains. The few positive indicators we found in the manure pits we studied are promising and the hotbed hypothesis is worth testing further.
The full volume is available for purchase here:
https://www.sidestone.com/books/a-human-environment
The full volume is available for purchase here:
https://www.sidestone.com/books/a-human-environment
Research Interests:
This article proposes a conceptual model to link arthropod assemblages to cultural formation processes. By defining the systemic contexts as domestic, peridomestic and natural, and the archaeological context as an urban archaeological pit... more
This article proposes a conceptual model to link arthropod assemblages to cultural formation processes. By defining the systemic contexts as domestic, peridomestic and natural, and the archaeological context as an urban archaeological pit containing waste, the movement of deposits can be traced through the ecological implications of the present arthropod remains. The distance between the original systemic context and the archaeological context defines four different sub-assemblages. These are then further divided into groups that show the relationship with human activities to separate the natural from the cultural formation process and indicate the type of deposit based on synanthropicity. Furthermore, a number of niche groups are distinguished to indicate the material contents and characteristics of a deposit. Reconstructing the origins and characteristics of these deposits allow for a better understanding of site formations and the functions of pits. Especially when there is no visible stratigraphic succession at the time of excavation, high resolution ecological information can shed light on the stratigraphy of a pit.
Research Interests:
This research was carried out to provide additional bioarchaeological data to test the function of medieval manure pits. These rectangular features that are commonly found in the late medieval period still pose a mystery to modern... more
This research was carried out to provide additional bioarchaeological data to test the function of medieval manure pits. These rectangular features that are commonly found in the late medieval period still pose a mystery to modern archaeology. Dr. Roos van Oosten (2014) suggested a function as early hotbeds. Beetle taxa were used to determine whether an agricultural purpose appears likely, and if there are thermophilic taxa present that indicate a rise in temperature that is necessary for a hotbed.
A theoretical framework was set, based on a subdivision of the assemblages as described by Aerts (2016) and the stable manure indicator package by Kenward and Hall (1997). An identification scheme was created for the three suggested purposes of manure pit, manure storage, cultivating bed or hotbed, as well as a theoretical typology of what they could stratigraphically look like.
Two manure pits that were previously investigated by Jantine Hos (2015) were reinvestigated for coleopteran remains: a manure pit from ‘s Hertogenbosch Postkantoor/Kerkstraat (F77) and a manure pit from Dordrecht Statenplein (S583). A third manure pit was sampled by the author specifically for this research at the Aalmarkt of Leiden (S9001).
F77 could potentially serve an agricultural function, but no conclusive evidence was found. S583 and S9001 make strong cased for the purpose of cultivating bed, but no thermophilic taxa were identified to indicate any form of raised temperatures. S9001 has shown that a correct sampling strategy can have a large impact on the interpretation of such cases, as the vast majority of agricultural indicators were present in filling 1, which is potentially a mulch layer. The botanical and agricultural data for S583 aligned perfectly. The coleopteran assemblage for S9001 contained similar or overlapping taxa, indicating a cultivation purpose for mostly Brassicaceae, although one abundant taxon indicates Leguminosae. A noteworthy observation is that both of these features contain waste material and artefacts associated with leather working.
More interdisciplinary research needs to be carried out to solve this puzzle. Botanical and entomological evidence have proved that at least a number of these pits have served a cultivating purpose. A more detailed idea of the typologies, stratigraphies and contexts is needed in addition to a more complete understand of their artefactual and ecofactual contents.
A theoretical framework was set, based on a subdivision of the assemblages as described by Aerts (2016) and the stable manure indicator package by Kenward and Hall (1997). An identification scheme was created for the three suggested purposes of manure pit, manure storage, cultivating bed or hotbed, as well as a theoretical typology of what they could stratigraphically look like.
Two manure pits that were previously investigated by Jantine Hos (2015) were reinvestigated for coleopteran remains: a manure pit from ‘s Hertogenbosch Postkantoor/Kerkstraat (F77) and a manure pit from Dordrecht Statenplein (S583). A third manure pit was sampled by the author specifically for this research at the Aalmarkt of Leiden (S9001).
F77 could potentially serve an agricultural function, but no conclusive evidence was found. S583 and S9001 make strong cased for the purpose of cultivating bed, but no thermophilic taxa were identified to indicate any form of raised temperatures. S9001 has shown that a correct sampling strategy can have a large impact on the interpretation of such cases, as the vast majority of agricultural indicators were present in filling 1, which is potentially a mulch layer. The botanical and agricultural data for S583 aligned perfectly. The coleopteran assemblage for S9001 contained similar or overlapping taxa, indicating a cultivation purpose for mostly Brassicaceae, although one abundant taxon indicates Leguminosae. A noteworthy observation is that both of these features contain waste material and artefacts associated with leather working.
More interdisciplinary research needs to be carried out to solve this puzzle. Botanical and entomological evidence have proved that at least a number of these pits have served a cultivating purpose. A more detailed idea of the typologies, stratigraphies and contexts is needed in addition to a more complete understand of their artefactual and ecofactual contents.