An archaeozoological study on animal consumption in urban areas from late medieval and early modern Holland (11th - 18th century)

This thesis presents a new survey of archaeozoological data from 10 towns, with a total of 60 assemblages, from the medieval county of Holland to determine diachronic and geographic trends in the meat consumption in urban areas. The methods used are based on the recent article by Ervynck and van Neer, which suggested that integrating the archaeozoological data from the southern Low Countries with research from the Netherlands would be beneficial for current research (Ervynck and van Neer 2017, 72). The research was performed by calculating the relative frequencies of cattle, pig and sheep, and consequently, calculating the Pig/Sheep ratio. This data has been collected in one survey. The diachronic and geographic trends that emerged from this survey were investigated and compared to the results from similar research in Flanders. The results of this study suggest that environmental factors were a very important influence in the consumption patterns of medieval towns. There are...Show moreThis thesis presents a new survey of archaeozoological data from 10 towns, with a total of 60 assemblages, from the medieval county of Holland to determine diachronic and geographic trends in the meat consumption in urban areas. The methods used are based on the recent article by Ervynck and van Neer, which suggested that integrating the archaeozoological data from the southern Low Countries with research from the Netherlands would be beneficial for current research (Ervynck and van Neer 2017, 72). The research was performed by calculating the relative frequencies of cattle, pig and sheep, and consequently, calculating the Pig/Sheep ratio. This data has been collected in one survey. The diachronic and geographic trends that emerged from this survey were investigated and compared to the results from similar research in Flanders. The results of this study suggest that environmental factors were a very important influence in the consumption patterns of medieval towns. There are similarities in the relative frequencies and Pig/Sheep ratios of towns with similar environmental factors, mostly those towns located in areas of salt marshes, peat bogs and alluvial districts. These environments are much more suitable for sheep herding than pig herding. Other trends are less clear. The Pig/Sheep ratio is somewhat higher in towns such as Amsterdam, Alkmaar and Haarlem than expected from the research done in Flanders. It is still uncertain what the main cause for these high Pig/Sheep ratios is. However, it does seem that the consumption of pig is likely to have been less than the consumption of sheep based on the relative frequencies. Future research on these towns in comparison to the countryside is therefore advised.Show less

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An archaeozoological study on animal consumption in urban areas from late medieval and early modern Holland (11th - 18th century)