About the possibility to trace Jewish urban households by means of an ichtyo-archaeological investigation: A study on archaeological fish remains from Post-Medieval Amsterdam and Medieval Cologne.

This study focuses on the eighteenth century archaeological fish remains found at an urban site located at the Valkenburgerstraat in Amsterdam. The location of the Valkenburgerstraat 130-146 site within the old Amsterdam Jewish quarter, together with the elaborate Jewish history of Amsterdam, cause a Jewish occupation of the site to have been very likely. Because of this presumed Jewish background it is to be expected that the strict Jewish dietary laws (also called kashrut) may be visible within the faunal assemblage found at the site. In addition to the prohibition of consuming non-cloven hoofed ruminants and a number of other mammal and bird species, according to kashrut the consumption of fish without fins and/or scales is also forbidden as these animals are considered to be ‘unclean’ or in Hebrew terms treif. Additionally, a number of supplementary criteria apply for the designation of treif fish. Most important may be the fact that the fish’s scales need to be removable...Show moreThis study focuses on the eighteenth century archaeological fish remains found at an urban site located at the Valkenburgerstraat in Amsterdam. The location of the Valkenburgerstraat 130-146 site within the old Amsterdam Jewish quarter, together with the elaborate Jewish history of Amsterdam, cause a Jewish occupation of the site to have been very likely. Because of this presumed Jewish background it is to be expected that the strict Jewish dietary laws (also called kashrut) may be visible within the faunal assemblage found at the site. In addition to the prohibition of consuming non-cloven hoofed ruminants and a number of other mammal and bird species, according to kashrut the consumption of fish without fins and/or scales is also forbidden as these animals are considered to be ‘unclean’ or in Hebrew terms treif. Additionally, a number of supplementary criteria apply for the designation of treif fish. Most important may be the fact that the fish’s scales need to be removable without damaging its skin. An example of treif fish which meets the above mentioned criteria, and which is perhaps one of the most frequently consumed species of fish in the Lows Countries, is European eel. The exclusion of fish like European eel at the Valkenburgerstraat may indicate that it were indeed Jews who occupied the site. Unfortunately, it appeared that similar research on Jewish fish consumption had been done only sporadically. Therefore, in order to compare the Valkenburgerstraat’s fish record with other North-Western European sites, the contents of four cesspits located at the predominantly Jewish Waterlooplein area together with four complexes located within the Medieval Jewish quarter of Cologne which included a Medieval Synagogue’s cesspits, were added to this study. The result of this comparative study indicates that treif fish has been consumed in very low percentages at most of these sites, including the Valkenburgerstraat. Because these percentages are considered to be negligible low and most probably the result of a sporadic unorthodox consumption or misunderstanding, together with the fact that European eel appears to have been consumed in far greater quantities at non-Jewish Amsterdam sites, one can conclude that when relying on the data presented by the fish record the Valkenburgerstraat has likely been occupied by Jews. However, in order to confirm the above statement, the results of the analysis of the remaining faunal assemblage and pottery remains found at the Valkenburgerstraat are awaited carefully.Show less

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About the possibility to trace Jewish urban households by means of an ichtyo-archaeological investigation: A study on archaeological fish remains from Post-Medieval Amsterdam and Medieval Cologne.