: Meat, milk, wool and grain: the animal economy of medieval England (CE 400 to 1400)

This is the final output from the ‘Feeding Anglo-Saxon England project’, which combines the zooarchaeological data used in the project with a novel aoristic method aimed at removing artificial temporal periodisation such as ‘early Saxon’ or ‘late medieval’.While there is an existing body of published work relating to the animal economy of medieval England, it is limited in scope either by region or chronology. This is the first attempt utilising data from immediately prior to the post-Roman period (CE 400) to the end of the high medieval period (CE 1400). Findings have allowed a refinement in the dating of some major changes in the medieval economy. For example, the early increase in sheep farming occurred earlier than previously thought, providing a driver for the mid-seventh century increase in international trade, rather than resulting from a change in demand. A considerable increase in the age of cattle in the ninth century is revealed for the first time, and ties in with recent findings to suggest this was a period when agricultural production intensified.