Anglo-Saxon Crops and Weeds: A Case Study in Quantitative Archaeobotany

218 Pages·2019·8.285 MB·English

by  Mark McKerracher

Anglo-Saxon
Crops and Weeds
A Case Study in
Quantitative Archaeobotany
Mark McKerracher
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Anglo-Saxon
Crops and Weeds
A Case Study in
Quantitative Archaeobotany
Mark McKerracher
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Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
Summertown Pavilion
18-24 Middle Way
Summertown
Oxford OX2 7LG
www.archaeopress.com
ISBN 978-1-78969-192-4
ISBN 978-1-78969-193-1 (e-Pdf)
© M McKerracher and Archaeopress 2019
Cover: Cowslips on Magdalen Hill Down, Hampshire © Mark McKerracher
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, or transmitted,
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior
written permission of the copyright owners.
This book is available direct from Archaeopress or from our website www.archaeopress.com
To Mr Snow
who taught me history and maths
and told me to roar.

Two out of three isn’t bad.

Contents
List of figures ...................................................................................................................................................... ii
List of tables........................................................................................................................................................ v
Abbreviations and notes................................................................................................................................. vii
Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................................... viii
Chapter 1: Seeds of Change .............................................................................................................................. 1
Chapter 2: Describing the Data ...................................................................................................................... 11
Chapter 3: Surveying the Species.................................................................................................................. 28
Chapter 4: Defining the Deposits .................................................................................................................. 35
Chapter 5: Counting the Crops ...................................................................................................................... 64
Chapter 6: The Witness of Weeds .................................................................................................................. 96
Chapter 7: More than the Sum of their Parts ............................................................................................ 128
Appendix 1: Key Parameters ........................................................................................................................ 131
Appendix 2: Key Metadata ........................................................................................................................... 133
Appendix 3: Gazetteer of Sites ..................................................................................................................... 146
Appendix 4: Inventory of Samples .............................................................................................................. 152
Appendix 5: Inventory of Plant Taxa ......................................................................................................... 179
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................... 187

i
List of figures
All maps contain OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2017.
Figure 1 - Modern administrative geography of the case study regions ...................................................... 12
Figure 2 - National Character Areas represented within the case study regions. ...................................... 16
Figure 3 - Proportions of analyses undertaken by different archaeobotanists within the project
dataset. .................................................................................................................................................................... 19
Figure 4 - Geographical distribution of sites represented in the project dataset. ...................................... 25
Figure 5 – Tripolar graph of grain : rachis : weed seed ratios in ethnographic control samples analysed
by Jones 1990: 93-96. ............................................................................................................................................. 38
Figure 6 – Idealized interpretation of grain : rachis : weed seed ratios in terms of crop processing
products and by-products, after Jones 1990. .................................................................................................... 39
Figure 7 – Tripolar graph of grain : rachis : weed seed ratios of free-threshing cereal samples in the
project dataset. ...................................................................................................................................................... 39
Figure 8 – Model scattergraph for the visual interpretation of discriminant analysis results, after Jones
1987: 315, Figure 1. ................................................................................................................................................ 44
Figure 9 – Discriminant analysis scattergraph of free-threshing cereal samples. ..................................... 47
Figure 10 – Discriminant analysis scattergraph of free-threshing cereal samples deemed to have a
classification compatible with their basic composition ratios. The symbols used here denote the
classifications obtained through the ratio analysis above (Table 6). ............................................................ 52
Figure 11 – Average density of charred plant remains in grain-rich free-threshing cereal samples,
grouped chronologically. ..................................................................................................................................... 54
Figure 12 – Average density of charred plant remains in grain-rich free-threshing cereal samples,
grouped according to parent feature type. ....................................................................................................... 55
Figure 13 – Discriminant analysis scattergraph of glume wheat samples. .................................................. 59
Figure 14 – Discriminant analysis scattergraph of mixed cereal type samples. ......................................... 62
Figure 15 – Phased presence analysis of barley and wheat remains, by assemblages. .............................. 68
Figure 16 – Phased presence analysis of free-threshing and glume wheat remains, by assemblages. ... 68
Figure 17 – Phased presence analysis of different glume wheat remains, by assemblages. ..................... 69
ii
Figure 18 – Phased presence analysis of oat and rye remains, by assemblages. ......................................... 69
Figure 19 – Phased presence analysis of barley and wheat remains, by samples. ...................................... 71
Figure 20 – Phased presence analysis of free-threshing and glume wheat remains, by samples. ........... 71
Figure 21 – Phased presence analysis of different glume wheat remains, by samples. ............................. 72
Figure 22 – Phased presence analysis of oat and rye remains, by samples. ................................................. 72
Figure 23 – Regional presence analysis of barley remains, by samples. ....................................................... 75
Figure 24 – Regional presence analysis of wheat remains, by samples. ....................................................... 75
Figure 25 – Regional presence analysis of free-threshing wheat remains, by samples. ............................ 76
Figure 26 – Regional presence analysis of spelt remains, by samples. ......................................................... 76
Figure 27 – Regional presence analysis of emmer remains, by samples. ..................................................... 77
Figure 28 – Regional presence analysis of oat remains, by samples. ............................................................ 77
Figure 29 – Regional presence analysis of rye remains, by samples. ............................................................ 78
Figure 30 – Percentage of rye grains in free-threshing product samples, grouped chronologically. ..... 84
Figure 31 - Percentage of free-threshing wheat grains in free-threshing product samples, grouped
chronologically. ..................................................................................................................................................... 85
Figure 32 - Percentage of barley grains in free-threshing product samples, grouped chronologically. 86
Figure 33 - Percentage of oat grains in free-threshing product samples, grouped chronologically. ...... 87
Figure 34 – Interpolated map of percentage of barley grains in free-threshing product samples. ......... 87
Figure 35 - Interpolated map of percentage of free-threshing wheat grains in free-threshing product
samples. ................................................................................................................................................................... 88
Figure 36 - Interpolated map of percentage of oat grains in free-threshing product samples. ............... 88
Figure 37 - Interpolated map of percentage of rye grains in free-threshing product samples. ............... 89
Figure 38 – Distribution of samples in correspondence analysis of free-threshing product samples and
constituent weed species. .................................................................................................................................. 105
Figure 39 - Distribution of species in correspondence analysis of free-threshing product samples and
constituent weed species. .................................................................................................................................. 106
iii
Figure 40 - Distribution of samples in correspondence analysis of free-threshing product samples and
constituent weed species (excluding <WST2>). .............................................................................................. 107
Figure 41 - Distribution of species in correspondence analysis of free-threshing product samples and
constituent weed species (excluding <WST2>). .............................................................................................. 108
Figure 42 - Distribution of samples in correspondence analysis of free-threshing product samples and
constituent weed species, coded by crop processing classification. ........................................................... 110
Figure 43 - Distribution of samples in correspondence analysis of free-threshing product samples and
constituent weed species, coded by flowering habits of weeds. .................................................................. 111
Figure 44 - Distribution of samples in correspondence analysis of free-threshing product samples and
constituent weed species, coded by sowing time classification of samples. ............................................. 112
Figure 45 - Distribution of samples in correspondence analysis of free-threshing product samples and
constituent weed species, coded by life history of weeds. ........................................................................... 113
Figure 46 - Distribution of samples in correspondence analysis of free-threshing product samples and
constituent weed species, coded by moisture preferences of weeds. ......................................................... 114
Figure 47 - Distribution of samples in correspondence analysis of free-threshing product samples and
constituent weed species, coded by nitrogen preferences of weeds. ......................................................... 115
Figure 48 - Distribution of samples in correspondence analysis of free-threshing product samples and
constituent weed species, coded by acidity preferences of weeds. ............................................................ 116
Figure 49 - Distribution of samples in correspondence analysis of free-threshing product samples and
constituent weed species, divided into broad compositional groups. ........................................................ 118
Figure 50 - Distribution of samples in correspondence analysis of free-threshing product samples and
constituent weed species, coded by percentage of rye grains amongst grain content. .......................... 121
Figure 51 - Distribution of samples in correspondence analysis of free-threshing product samples and
constituent weed species, coded by percentage of oat grains amongst grain content. .......................... 122
Figure 52 – Distribution of samples in correspondence analysis of free-threshing product samples and
constituent weed species, coded by percentage of barley grains amongst grain content. ..................... 123
Figure 53 - Distribution of samples in correspondence analysis of free-threshing product samples and
constituent weed species, coded by percentage of free-threshing wheat grains amongst grain content. .. 124
iv