Table Of Content“An important and timely volume... an elegant summary of complex theory, and M MEDIEVAL LIFE
synthesis of an impressive body of material. It will be eagerly read by current and
future generations of archaeologists, and will demonstrate the significance of historical
archaeology to a much wider scholarly audience.” Dr Kate Giles, University of York
E
The aim of this book is to explore how medieval life was actually lived–how
ARCHAEOLOGY AND
people were born and grew old, how they dressed, how they inhabited their
D
homes, the rituals that gave meaning to their lives and how they prepared for
death and the afterlife. THE LIFE COURSE
Its fresh and original approach uses archaeological evidence to reconstruct
I
the material practices of medieval life, death and the afterlife. Previous
historical studies of the medieval ‘lifecycle’ begin with birth and end
E
with death. Here, in contrast, the concept of life course theory is Roberta Gilchrist
developed for the first time in a detailed archaeological case
study. The author argues that medieval Christian V
understanding of the ‘life course’ commenced with
conception and extended through the entirety of
A
life, to include death and the afterlife.
Five thematic case studies present the
archaeology of medieval England (c.1050–1540 CE) in terms
L
of the body, the household, the parish church and cemetery,
and the relationship between the lives of people and objects.
A wide range of sources is critically employed: osteology,
costume, material culture, iconography and evidence excavated L
from houses, churches and cemeteries in the medieval English
town and countryside. Medieval Life reveals the intimate and
I
everyday relations between age groups, between the living and
the dead, and between people and things. F
ROBERTA GILCHRISTis a professor of Archaeology
at the University of Reading. E
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Cover illustration: Doom painting on board, St Peter’s
parish church, Wenhaston (Suffolk), dated c. 1500: upper
BOYDELL & BREWERLtd register – Christ seated on rainbow; lower register –
St Peter welcomes the saved to heaven (left) and the
PO Box 9, Woodbridge IP12 3DF (GB) and damned in the jaws of the hell-mouth (right).
668 Mt Hope Ave, Rochester NY 14620-2731 (US) Photograph by Richard Tilbrook; provided courtesy of
Norfolk Library and Information Service and reproduced
www.boydellandbrewer.com with kind permission of Mr Tilbrook’s executor.
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Medieval Life
Archaeology and the Life Course
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Medieval Life
Archaeology and the Life Course
Roberta Gilchrist
the boydell press
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© Roberta Gilchrist 2012
All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation
no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval
system, published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast,
transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission of the copyright owner
The right of Roberta Gilchrist to be identified as
the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
First published 2012
The Boydell Press, Woodbridge
isbn 978 1 84383 722 0
The Boydell Press is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk ip12 3df, UK
and of Boydell & Brewer Inc.
668 Mount Hope Ave, Rochester, ny 14620, USA
website: www.boydellandbrewer.com
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
The publisher has no responsibility for the continued existence
or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites
referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content
on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate
Papers used by Boydell & Brewer Ltd are natural, recyclable
products made from wood grown in sustainable forests
Designed and typeset in Warnock Pro by
David Roberts, Pershore, Worcestershire
Printed and bound by
CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, cr0 4yy
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Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Preface xii
Acknowledgements xiv
Abbreviations xv
1 Archaeology and the Life Course 1
1.1 The life course: archaeology on a human scale 1
1.2 Embodiment and ritual 7
1.3 Biography and agency 11
1.4 Time and memory 13
1.5 The medieval ‘extended life course’ 19
1.6 Sources and scales of analysis 22
2 Experiencing Age: the Medieval Body 32
2.1 Humoral theory and the Ages of Man 32
2.2 ‘Temporal biology’: experiencing medieval age 38
2.3 Osteobiography: the materiality of the body 43
2.4 Medieval ‘osteobiographies’: from infancy to old age 48
3 Clothing the Body: Age, Sexuality and Transitional Rites 68
3.1 ‘Social skins’: medieval clothing 68
3.2 Constructing difference: age and identity 79
3.3 Rites de passages: marking life course transitions 91
3.4 Shaping the body: sexuality and social order 98
3.5 Coming of Age: seasonal rites and courting 106
4 The Medieval Household: the Material Culture of Everyday Life 114
4.1 Materiality and domesticity 114
4.2 Marriage and other lifestyles 124
4.3 Conception and birth: the material practices of motherhood 134
4.4 The family: growing up and growing old 145
4.5 Domestic devotion: care for the body and soul 154
5 The Medieval Church and Cemetery: The Quick and the Dead 169
5.1 Performing piety 169
5.2 The imagery of the parish church: life and afterlife 172
5.3 Life course rituals: transforming the body 181
5.4 Living with the dead 190
5.5 Burial: the journey to the afterlife 200
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6 Medieval Lives: People and Things 216
6.1 What did medieval objects do? 216
6.2 ‘Animating’ objects: the person/object boundary 218
6.3 Metaphors and materials: ‘special deposits’ in medieval buildings 227
6.4 Heirlooms and ‘curated’ objects 237
6.5 Materiality: connecting the biographies of people and things 242
Appendix 1 The Medieval Ages of Man: natural, humoral, temporal and material
associations of age 253
Appendix 2 Excavated Medieval Cemeteries Discussed in the Text 254
Appendix 3 Indicative Age Profiles Based on Excavated Medieval
Cemeteries 255
Appendix 4 Children’s Clothing and Dress Accessories from Burial Contexts in
Britain: infants to 15-year olds 257
Appendix 5 Sexual Signs: medieval dress accessories incorporating sexual
imagery 260
Appendix 6 Dress Accessories Associated with May Festivities 263
Appendix 7 Love Gifts: dress accessories associated with courting and
betrothal 265
Appendix 8 Apotropaic Materials: dress accessories, domestic and devotional
objects 267
Appendix 9 Charms: devotional inscriptions on excavated objects and dress
accessories 272
Appendix 10 Devotional Inscriptions on Medieval Finds from the Portable
Antiquities Scheme 274
Appendix 11 Priests’ Burials from Medieval English Parish Churches and
Hospitals 275
Appendix 12 Grave Goods associated with Aged Skeletons from Medieval English
Parish Churches and Hospitals 277
Appendix 13 The Classification of Grave Goods from Medieval Burials 283
Appendix 14 Infant Burials from Domestic Contexts in Medieval England 284
Bibliography 286
Index 321
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Illustrations
Plates (between pp. 128 & 129)
1 Roman d’Alexandre, c. 1340. Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Bodley 264, fol. 78.
By kind permission of Bodleian Libraries.
2 The Luttrell Psalter, c. 1320–40. British Library, Add. MS 42130, fol. 170r. © The
British Library Board.
3 The marriage ceremony, c. 1335–50. St John’s College, Cambridge, MS A.4 (IV),
fol. 60v. By kind permission of the Master and Fellows of St John’s College,
Cambridge.
4 Wheel of Life from the De Lisle Psalter, c. 1310. British Library, MS Arundel 83,
fol. 126v. © The British Library Board.
5 Tree of Wisdom, c. 1420–30. By kind permission of the Wellcome Trust, Wellcome
MS 49, fol. 69v.
6 Reconstruction of children’s clothing, 14th–15th centuries. Drawing by Margaret
Mathews.
7 Reconstruction of later medieval adults’ clothing. Drawing by Margaret Mathews.
8 Rood screen panel (c. 1480–90), parish church of St Mary, Sparham (Norfolk).
Photograph by Richard Tilbrook. Courtesy of Norfolk Library and Information
Service and reproduced with kind permission of Mr Tilbrook’s executor.
9 Reconstruction of the interior of a later medieval rural house. Drawing by
Margaret Mathews.
10 Rood screen (c. 1480), parish church of St Helen, Ranworth (Norfolk).
Photograph by R. Gilchrist.
11 Reconstruction of the interior of a medieval parish church. Drawing by Margaret
Mathews.
12 Warning to Gossips: wall painting from Little Melton parish church (Norfolk),
c. 1370. Photograph courtesy of Anne Marshall (paintedchurch.org).
13 The Seven Works of Mercy: 14th-century wall painting at the parish church
of Moulton St Mary (Norfolk). Photograph courtesy of Anne Marshall
(paintedchurch.org).
14 St Neot parish church (Cornwall): stained-glass windows in the north aisle, dating
to the 1520s. Photograph by R. Gilchrist.
15 Doom painting, parish church of St Thomas of Canterbury, Salisbury (early
16th-century). Photograph by R. Gilchrist.
16 Doom painting on board, St Peter’s parish church, Wenhaston (Suffolk), dated
c. 1500. Photograph by Richard Tilbrook. Courtesy of Norfolk Library and
Information Service and reproduced with kind permission of Mr Tilbrook’s
executor.
17 Burial Service with Deathbed, Book of Hours, Catholic Church, French, c. 1470,
parchment with ink, paint and gold. Photograph © The Walters Art Museum
Baltimore, W 249, fol. 119r.
18 The legend of the Three Living and the Three Dead: the De Lisle Psalter, c. 1310.
British Library, MS Arundel 83(II), fol. 127. © The British Library Board.
vii
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viii Medieval Life: Archaeology and the Life Course
Figures
1.1 ‘Boy bishop’ token from Blaxhall (Suffolk). © Society for Medieval Archaeology;
reproduced with kind permission of Maney Publishing from Medieval
Archaeology 47 (www.maney.co.uk/journals/med). 16
1.2 Map of key sites and assemblages. Drawing by Margaret Mathews. 26
2.1 The Black Death Cemetery at East Smithfield, London, 1348–50.
Reproduced with kind permission; © Museum of London Archaeology. 40
2.2 The Mary Rose (1545). Reproduced with kind permission; © Mary Rose Trust. 47
2.3 Wharram Percy (N. Yorks.), osteological evidence for rickets.
© English Heritage. 50
2.4 The hospital of St Mary Spital, London. Reproduced with kind permission;
© Museum of London Archaeology. 54
2.5 Towton (N. Yorks.): mass grave from the Battle of Towton (1461).
Reproduced with kind permission; © Malin Holst. 58
2.6 Leather shoe from London. Reproduced with kind permission;
© Museum of London. 64
2.7 The hospital of St Giles by Brompton Bridge, Brough (N. Yorks.). Photograph
reproduced with kind permission of Peter Cardwell; plan after Gilchrist and
Sloane 2005, fig. 33. 65
3.1 Leather girdles from London. Reproduced with kind permission;
© Museum of London Archaeology. 75
3.2 Purses and purse hangers from the Mary Rose (1545). Reproduced with kind
permission; © Mary Rose Trust. 76
3.3 Mirror case from Meols (Cheshire). Reproduced with kind permission;
© National Museums Liverpool, courtesy the British Museum Trustees. 77
3.4 Toilet implements from York. Reproduced with kind permission;
© York Archaeological Trust. 78
3.5 Children’s shoes from York. Reproduced with kind permission;
© York Archaeological Trust. 80
3.6 Circular brooches from Meols (Cheshire). Reproduced with kind permission;
© National Museums Liverpool, courtesy The Grosvenor Museum, Chester. 83
3.7 Headdress pins with decorated heads from London. Reproduced with kind
permission; © Museum of London Archaeology. 86
3.8 Leather jerkins from the Mary Rose (1545). Reproduced with kind permission;
© Mary Rose Trust. 88
3.9 Worcester Cathedral: burial of an elderly man dressed as a pilgrim.
Reproduced with kind permission of Helen Lubin and the Dean and Chapter
of Worcester Cathedral. 90
3.10 Scabbards excavated from Seal House and Billingsgate, London. Reproduced
with kind permission; © Museum of London Archaeology. 93
3.11 Leather girdle and wooden comb from Swan Lane, London. Reproduced with
kind permission; © Museum of London Archaeology. 95
3.12 Blickling (Norfolk): drawing of funerary brass of Anne à Wode (d. 1512).
Drawing by Margaret Mathews. 96
3.13 Wildman badge from Salisbury (Wilts.). Reproduced with kind permission;
© Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum. 100
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Archaeology and the Life Course ix
3.14 Ballock dagger grips from the Mary Rose (1545). Reproduced with kind
permission; © Mary Rose Trust. 102
3.15 Pike from Baynard’s Castle, London. Reproduced with kind permission;
© Museum of London. 103
3.16 Misericord, St Mary, Fairford (Glos.). Photograph by R. Gilchrist. 104
3.17 Cross and pellet tokens from Salisbury (Wilts.). Reproduced with kind
permission; © Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum. 105
3.18 Secular badges from London associated with seasonal celebrations.
Drawing by Margaret Mathews. 107
3.19 Necklace/ collar chain from Meols (Cheshire). Reproduced with kind
permission; © National Museums Liverpool, courtesy The Grosvenor
Museum, Chester. 108
3.20 Secular badges/ love tokens from London. Drawing by Margaret Mathews. 111
3.21 Coffin-lid from Winterbourne Bassett (Wilts.). Photograph by R. Gilchrist. 113
4.1 Cuckoo Lane, Southampton: pottery assemblage from pit 14, c. 1290.
Reproduced with kind permission of the Continuum International Publishing
Group. 116
4.2 Cuckoo Lane, Southampton: wooden objects from pit 14, c. 1290.
Reproduced with kind permission of the Continuum International Publishing
Group. 117
4.3 Reconstruction of a medieval peasant house at Wharram Percy (N. Yorks.).
Reproduced with kind permission of the Continuum International Publishing
Group. 119
4.4 Lady Row, Goodramgate, York (dated 1316). Photograph by kind permission
of Kate Giles. 120
4.5 Iron locks and keys from Tattenhoe and Westbury (Bucks.). Reproduced with
kind permission of the Buckinghamshire Archaeological Society. 123
4.6 Decorated spoons from London. Reproduced with kind permission;
© Museum of London. 126
4.7 Marriage knives from Meols (Cheshire). Reproduced with kind permission;
© National Museums Liverpool, courtesy The Grosvenor Museum, Chester. 127
4.8 Posnet and cauldrons from Pottergate, Norwich, 1507. Reproduced courtesy
of the Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service; © The Norwich Survey. 128
4.9 Memorial brass to Elizabeth Etchingham and Agnes Oxenbridge (c. 1480),
at Etchingham parish church (E. Sussex). © The British Archaeological
Association; reproduced with kind permission of Maney Publishing.
Originally published in the Journal of the British Archaeological Association
161 (www.maney.co.uk/journals/med). 130
4.10 Vicars’ Choral of York Minster. Reproduced with kind permission;
© York Archaeological Trust. 132
4.11 Finds from the Vicars’ Choral of York Minster associated with needlework
and yarn production. Reproduced with kind permission;
© York Archaeological Trust. 133
4.12 Pottergate, Norwich, c. 1450–1507: pendant formed from a bracteate
originating from Aachen. Reproduced courtesy of the Norfolk Museums and
Archaeology Service; © The Norwich Survey. 137
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Medieval Life.indb 9 13/02/2012 14:29
Description:"An important and timely volume... an elegant summary of complex theory, and synthesis of an impressive body of material. It will be eagerly read by current and future generations of archaeologists, and will demonstrate the significance of historical archaeology to a much wider scholarly audience."
