University of Groningen Animal keeping and the use of animal products in medieval Emden (Lower Saxony, Germany) Grimm, Jessica Marije IMPORTANT NOTE: You are advised to consult the publisher's version (publisher's PDF) if you wish to cite from it. Please check the document version below. Document Version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Publication date: 2010 Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research database Citation for published version (APA): Grimm, J. M. (2010). Animal keeping and the use of animal products in medieval Emden (Lower Saxony, Germany) Groningen: s.n. Copyright Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Take-down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Downloaded from the University of Groningen/UMCG research database (Pure): http://www.rug.nl/research/portal. For technical reasons the number of authors shown on this cover page is limited to 10 maximum. Download date: 10-02-2018
RIJKSUNIVERSITEIT GRONINGEN Animal keeping and the use of animal products in medieval Emden (Lower Saxony, Germany) Proefschrift ter verkrijging van het doctoraat in de Letteren aan de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen op gezag van de Rector Magnificus, dr. F. Zwarts, in het openbaar te verdedigen op donderdag 15 april 2010 om 16:15 uur door Jessica Marije Grimm geboren op 7 juli 1978 te Warnsveld
Promotores: Copromotor: Beoordelingscommissie: Prof. dr. H.R. Reinders Prof. dr. W.H. Zimmermann Dr. W. Prummel Prof. dr. D.E.H. de Boer Prof. dr. L.P. Louwe Kooijmans Prof. dr. D.C.M. Raemaekers
Preface I would like to express my gratitude to my Doktormutter Wietske Prummel whose guidance and endless proofreading have greatly improved the current document. Prof. dr. Haio Zimmermann is warmly thanked for placing faith in and taking on board a young scholar. Prof. dr. Reinder Reinders, Prof. dr. Leendert Louwe-Kooijmans, Prof. dr. Daan Raemaakers and Prof. dr. Dick de Boer are thanked for their valued comments on an earlier draft of this thesis. Their suggestions have greatly improved readability. Funding to cover the costs of the first three years of this study was obtained from the EWE-Stiftung, Oldenburg and the Helmut-und-Gertrud-Barthell Stiftung, Varel. The management at Wessex Archaeology is thanked for granting me unpaid leave and making it possible to change from fulltime to part-time in order to finish my doctoral thesis. My colleagues at the Niedersächsisches Institut für historische Küstenforschung are also warmly remembered. Especially Gregor Kulbach who put up with me in jail, Monika Sabrowsky who painstakingly sorted the soil sample residues and Wolfgang Reiners for building an excellent set of sieves. Thanks are also due to Dr. Rolf Bärenfänger and Gerd Kronsweide from the Ostfriesische Landschaft and Bernd Rasink, excavator of the Kirchstraße. English readability was improved by Karen Walker and Dave Farwell. Their proofreading as nonzooarchaeologists was of great value. Robert Kanters, Herman Kanters and Lisa Kanters of Ridderprint, Ridderkerk were very competent, helpful and friendly during the printing stage of this thesis. My deepest gratitude is due to my parents who worked hard to pay for my education. Their enthusiasm for past cultures and archaeology has proven infectious. And last but not least; I would like to thank my husband for putting up with me in stressful times, for motivating me and for believing in me.
Animal keeping and the use of animal products in medieval Emden (Lower Saxony, Germany) Preface Contents Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Zooarchaeological methods 3 1.2 An introduction to the Emden excavations 10 1.3 Landscape and historical background of Emden 17 1.4 Zooarchaeological research on medieval assemblages 20 1.5 Research questions 22 Chapter 2 The animal bone analysis of the Rosenstraße excavation 24 2.1 Relative frequencies of the species 24 2.2 Body-part frequency 28 2.3 Degree of fragmentation 30 2.4 Age at death 30 2.5 Sex 36 2.6 Height at the withers 37 2.7 Gnawing 38 2.8 Butchery marks 39 2.9 Bone density patterns 40 Chapter 3 The animal bone analysis of the Schulstraße excavation 43 3.1 Relative frequencies of the species 43 3.2 Body-part frequency 48 3.3 Degree of fragmentation 48 3.4 Age at death 49 3.5 Sex 54 3.6 Height at the withers 55 3.7 Gnawing 56 3.8 Butchery marks 57 3.9 Bone density patterns 57 Chapter 4 The animal bone analysis of the Kirchstraße excavation 60 4.1 Relative frequencies of the species 60 4.2 Body-part frequency 63 4.3 Degree of fragmentation 63 4.4 Age at death 65 4.5 Sex 70 4.6 Height at the withers 71 4.7 Gnawing 72 4.8 Butchery marks 73 4.9 Soil samples 73 Chapter 5 Animal keeping and the use of animal products in medieval Emden: a synthesis 79 5.1 Zooarchaeological results 79 5.1.1 Relative frequencies of the species 80 5.1.2 Body-part frequency 90 5.1.3 Herd structure and management 96 5.1.4 Phenotype 105
5.1.5 Animal health and welfare 112 5.2 Synthesis 120 5.2.1 Species richness and social stratigraphy 120 5.2.2 Production of secondary products 122 5.2.2.1 Milk 122 5.2.2.2 Wool 123 5.2.2.3 Traction 124 5.2.3 Production of primary products 125 5.2.3.1 Meat, marrow and fat 125 5.2.3.2 Skin, fur and leather working 131 5.2.3.3 Bone, horn and antler 134 5.2.4 Waste management 141 Chapter 6 Medieval Emden in comparison with other coastal sites 146 6.1 Species proportions 146 6.2 Herd structure and management 154 6.3 Phenotype 159 6.4 Animal health and welfare 168 Chapter 7 Conclusions and summary 170 References 176 Appendices 193 Catalogue of worked bone objects 193 Plates 220