Food Production and Distribution Flashcards
What was the overwhelming amount of time and effort put into in pre-industrial society?
Food production
Food was effectively the only income anyone had
Yes
What was the most important element of the AS diet?
Wheat, Barley and to lesser extent oats and rye
How did crop type change over the period?
At the beginning, barley was the most common cereal in England, by the norman conquest, wheat was
Why did wheat overtake barley as the preferred cereal?
It made nicer bread (no nutritional advantage - just that barley bread was denser and didnt rise as well)
Some saints lives’ they eat barley bread to demonstrate humility
Also maybe cos wheat an Italian thing and elite emulation
What was the popularity of barley in the period?
Still remained the 2nd highest cereal used - probs cos good for malting
Although oats and rye were not preferred…
…they were more robust (can grow in conditions not suitable for wheat - which requires fertile but well-drained soil)
What were some common weeds in the period?
Oats was one even though also deliberately farmed
Another was corncockle which was poisonous
How badly did weeds affect crop and how might this problem be addressed?
Not clear how badly affected crop/got into flour
Some ways of addressing it:
- Repeated ploughing before sowing
- Fast growing annual weeds die down before the harvest
- Height of crops (higher than now) probs made it hard for weeds to grow in between (esp. w/ broadcasting technique)
- And taller crop meant could reap it higher and hopefully avoid the weeds
How did EME view bread?
The requirement for a proper meal (like pasta and potatoes are today)
How was flour ground and what were some consequences of this?
Had to be hand ground in a quern
Hard work - average modern westerner lasts 30 minutes with enough flour for a few roles
What was one hazard in bread?
The meal would almost certainly contain grit from the surface of the mealstones - would wear away teeth so that by middle age dentine would be exposed (so painful probs hard to eat)
But Banham isnt clear on how much bread would need to be consumed for this to happen - everyday? Status ailment like gout?
Who likely had to grind flour?
Likely female role - Aethelberht apparently had a whole female class of slave “identified by their task of grounding flour” (B)
Because its such hard work, it probs was the case that most slave in every household participated in this grinding
How might bread be a status thing?
Because women had to do loads of other jobs as well as grind flour (weaving, spinning, milking etc.) a small household would only make bread occasionally
Because of this investment in time and energy, poorer folk were probs more likely to make pottage
Why might poorer folk eat pottage as their everyday meal?
Much less time and energy than bread - could stick it in a pot on the fire (which in winter would be burning anyway) and leave it for the day. When jobs finished you’d get back and it’d be ready to eat
What were the main ingredients of pottage?
Cereals and pulses with other things like leeks and cabbage
What appaers to be AS opinion on leeks, garlic, and onions?
All viewed similarly: all share leac (leek) compounds in their names - eg garlic = ‘spear leek’
Leek was definitely the most important though - veg garden = leactun (‘leek-enclosure’)
Why were leek, onions, garlic, and wild cabbage favoured veg?
Could be stored in winter and more hardy
Had a strength of flavour (By modern standards, wild cabbage so strong its inedible)
How was land used?
The best land was used for cultivation, rough land for pasture, the worst land as woodland
What were spades like bakc then?
Wooden with an iron edge for cutting - probs used for cultivating land that was either too steep or too wet for a plough; or if these people couldnt afford/didnt have access to a plough
How might fertiliser have been used in this period?
Likely smeared when and where it was needed
From low-levels of dung fauna from EM sites compared with Roman or post-conquest suggests it was taken out pretty immediately
What might fertilisation depend upon?
How close livestock was to fields/homes - having a plough team probs meant more likely to be able to fertilise stuff
What are the two main types of plough?
- Ard/scratch plough: Digging stick turned over so it could be pulled by and animal
- Heavy plough: Has a coulter (cuts a line for the shave to follow) and a Mouldboard (turns over the sod sliced by the shave, and has wheels
In practice these categories arent so clear cut
What was arguably the most important feature of a plough and why?
The Mouldboard
Turning over the sod made it much more effective at de-weeding
Could also create ridge and furrow fields meaning cereals (wheat) could be grown on previously waterlogged/heavier soil fields
What are the possible dates for heavy ploughs?
May have been used as early as Roman Britain but earliest evidence is a 6kg coulter at Lyminge, Kent
Few physical remains for ploughs cos wood rots and metal too valuable not to reuse (plus big coulters harder to lose)
Why might ploughing be harder for an ard plough?
Would have to keep going over the fields with the plough to de-weed (cos only cuts lines, not turn over the soil) - might spend all winter ploughing
What are some of the arguments B&F make for and against ploughing in january (as calendar suggests)?
Against:
- Too cold for sowing (and maybe ground frozen too)
For:
- Apparently wheat and rye could still live in winter
- Best time to sow is when the ground is still moist and weeds havent germinated
What, according to the calendar, did a plough team look like?
3 men with 4 oxen - boy driving oxen on (oxherd), driver, sower following (exeter riddles)
