Hagen, Ann; (1992) Anglo-saxon food: processing and consumption. Masters thesis (M.Phil), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

This synthesizing study brings together for the first time information from various primary and secondary sources in order to build up a composite picture of food processing and consumption during the Anglo-Saxon period. The period covered is the six centuries from the beginning of the fifth century to c.1100. The area covered is Anglo-Saxon England, with reference to the Celtic west. Occasionally reference is made to continental sites for archaeological evidence to verify points in the literary sources, when, by the accidents of (non) recovery, such evidence is unknown in the archaeological record here. The primary source material is of two kinds: literary and archaeological. Material in Anglo-Saxon manuscripts in the vernacular has been supplemented on occasion by that in Latin manuscripts. There was no pre-selection of manuscripts, and references to food come from all types of writings: legal, religious, literary and medical. Place-name evidence is also used and reference is made to contemporary illustrations. Archaeological evidence is drawn in the main from the major animal bone assemblages, human skeletal material, and plant remains. as well as artefacts and structures. The problems of interpreting evidence from these sources are considered. As 'Anglo-Saxon Food: Processing and Consumption' has not been treated as the main subject of any similar multidisciplinary research before, there is no history of research into the subject as such, but it has been necessary to draw on a range of secondary material. This includes classical and later medieval documents. Modern histories of the period and surveys of food in antiquity have been consulted, as have publications on specific foodstuffs, particular areas of processing and ethnographical works.

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