Plant and Invertebrate Remains at Goldingham Hall, Bulmer, Essex (BUL13)

Plant and invertebrate remains at Goldingham Hall, Bulmer, Essex (BUL13)

Rachel Ballantyne, 19th February 2014

Introduction

One bulk soil sample has been analysed from black ash layer(30), which was found in situ at the base ofoven F.11 in Trench A. Pottery fromhigher layers within the oven includes Early Medieval Sandy Ware and Hedingham Ware, which representthe 11th to 14th Centuries AD (Blinkhorn 2013).

Methods

The sample was processed by hand using bucket flotation, with the flot collected in a 300µm sieve and the residue washed over 1mm mesh. The flot was dried and sorted under a low power binocular microscope (x6.3–x40). The residue was also dried and then passed through a 4mm sieve; with the larger fraction hand sorted for artefacts and ecofacts, and the smaller fraction scanned under the same low power microscope. Identifications were made using seed atlases (Anderberg 1994; Berggren 1981;Cappers et al. 2006) and the reference collections of the Pitt-Rivers Laboratory for Bioarchaeology, Division of Archaeology, University of Cambridge. All taxonomic nomenclature for plants follows Stace (1997).

Preservation

The flot is predominantly of fine charcoal and siliceous fly ash (< 500µm), which suggests that most of the fuel washeavily charred and many less robust items have been lost to charring. The surviving charred plant macrofossils and charcoal fragments are very well preserved, with minimal puffing, distortion or fragmentation.

Results and discussion

A few charred twig fragments suggest that bundles of brushwood may have been used to flash fire the oven to raise the temperature between baking sessions. Such practices are well known (Marguerie and Hunot 2007, 1425). Spot identification of a roundwoodfragment indicates hazel is present (Corylus sp.).

The macrofossils are dominated by 23 grains of a free-threshing wheat (Triticumaestivumsensulato), with a further 6 grains identifiable only as wheat. The grain may derive from a compact-eared type such as club wheat, as the grain dimensions are small; ranging between 2–2.5 mm wide by 3–3.5mm long. However another possibility is that these are tail grains (from the tip of the ear) from a more standard type of bread wheat.

Other seeds and fruits are infrequent and are most likely to be wild contaminants either of the oven fuel(s) or wheat grain. Two oat seeds (Avena sp.) may be of the wild or cultivated types, whilst a fragment of sloe/plum/cherry fruit stone (Prunussp.) may be food waste or from the brushwood fuel. Arable weeds are represented by seeds of vetch/wild pea (Vicia/Lathyrus sp.), corn gromwell (Lithospermumarvense), field madder (Sherardiaarvensis) and common spike-rush (Eleocharispalustris). Of these weeds, only common spikerush provides any clear indication of past cultivation conditions, being associated with damp to wetground.

The heavy residue contains a number of fragments of burnt clay or daub, which may be from the superstructure of the oven.

Conclusions

These charred remains are typical for a medieval oven (e.g. Moffett 1994)and are dominated by brushwood fuel and grains of bread wheat, which may have been short-grained variety such as club wheat. Other more fragile items such as kindling or an oven floor lining may be represented by the charred remains of cereal straw. The few associated weed seeds include common spike-rush, which suggests some of the land used for wheat cultivation was damp and prone to at least seasonal flooding.

Recommendations

No further work is necessary on this assemblage, which is of local significance and worth publishing in a relevant archaeological journalwith a local to regional focus.

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Prof. Martin Jones for access to the resources of the Pitt-Rivers Laboratory for Bioarchaeology, Division of Archaeology, University of Cambridge.

References

Anderberg, A.-L. 1994. Atlas of Seeds and Small Fruits of Northwest-European Plant Species. Part 4: Resedaceae–Umbelliferae. Stockholm: SwedishMuseum of Natural History.

Berggren, G. 1981. Atlas of Seeds and Small Fruits of Northwest-European Plant Species, with Morphological Descriptions.Part 3.Saliaceae – Cruciferae.Stockholm: SwedishMuseum of Natural History.

Blinkhorn, P. 2013. Pottery from Bulmer, Essex (Site BUL13).Unpublished report for ACA Archaeology.

Cappers, R.T.J., Bekker, R.M. and Jans, J.E.A. 2006.DigitaleZadenatlas van Nederland.Groningen: Barkhuis Publishing and GroningenUniversity Library.

Marguerie,D. and Hunot, J.-Y. 2007. Charcoal analysis and dendrology: data from archaeological sites in north-western France. J. Archaeol. Sci. 34, 1417–1433.

Moffett, L. 1994. ‘Charred cereals from some ovens/kilns in late Saxon Stafford and the botanical evidence for the pre-burh economy’, pp.55–64 in J. Rackham (ed.) Environment and economy in Anglo-Saxon England (CBA Research Report 89). York: Council for British Archaeology.

Moffett, L. 2011 ‘Food plants on archaeological sites.The nature of the archaeobotanical record’, pp.346–360 in H. Hamerow, D.A. Hinton and S. Crawford (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Stace, C. 1997. New Flora of the British Isles (2nd edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Table 1: Charred plant remains from Goldingham Hall, Bulmer, Essex (BUL13)

Key: * 1 or 2 items, + less than 10 items, ++ 10 to 50 items, +++ more than 50 items

Items in brackets are from the heavy residue >4mm