Credit: University of Bristol
Posted on 05/17/2019 8:03:53 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Scientists from the University of Bristol have uncovered, for the first time, definitive evidence that determines what types of food medieval peasants ate and how they managed their animals.
Using chemical analysis of pottery fragments and animal bones found at one of England's earliest medieval villages, combined with detailed examination of a range of historical documents and accounts, the research has revealed the daily diet of peasants in the Middle Ages. The researchers were also able to look at butchery techniques, methods of food preparation and rubbish disposal at the settlement...
The OGU team used the technique of organic residue analysis to chemically extract food residues from the remains of cooking pots used by peasants in the small medieval village of West Cotton in Northamptonshire.
Organic residue analysis is a scientific technique commonly used in archaeology. It is mainly used on ancient pottery, which is the most common artefact found on archaeological sites worldwide.
Researchers used chemical and isotopic techniques to identify lipids, the fats, oils and natural waxes of the natural world, from the ceramics.
These can survive over thousands of years and the compounds found are one of the best ways scientists and archaeologists can determine what our ancestors ate.
The findings demonstrated that stews (or pottages) of meat (beef and mutton) and vegetables such as cabbage and leek, were the mainstay of the medieval peasant diet.
The research also showed that dairy products, likely the 'green cheeses' known to be eaten by the peasantry, also played an important role in their diet.
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
They had a whey with curds.................
I bet they didn’t survive on tofu and bean sprouts...
I nice Bowl of Pottage
and a Fresh loaf of bread
Is all the Ancestors wanted.
I was Happy with a In-n-Out
Double-Double last nite.
I appreciate modern culinary offerings.
but only when they had spiders as guests as the seating went - jester boy girl spider ....
They ate whatever they could hunt, gather, raise or grow. Why waste time and money with this so-called research? It just supplements the same crew who invent things like global warming- oops, now it’s climate change- to keep money flowing in their direction.
In King Arthur’s Britain they used to eat Spamalot
Heck yeah! My fave is the 4x4...our ancestors are welcome to keep the potage.
Weekly Digest list ping. Other recent topics (since the 8th):
The truth is, I'm a little jealous that I didn't think of that one.
BS, vegetables do not grow in cold snow.
Interesting. However, this research is only based on one village, called West Cotton. Hopefully they’ll get around to doing the same procedure in other villages and get a bigger picture.
There’s a youtube series on this. Medieval peasants ate what would now be found at your typical upscale trendy gastro-pub today
a lot of fish
rabbit
cured pork, particularly cheap cuts
greens
whole grain bread
ale
spices, which were extremely expensive, were only what they could find locally - thinks like wild onions, sorrel, rosemary (depending on climate)
they actually ate better (more healthily) than nobles.
Very interesting. Plus, since they didn’t have refrigerators and microwaves, their food was probably a lot fresher than ours.
We call it “cottage cheese”.
Sounds a lot like my diet....
Does that make me a medieval peasant?
We’re often told that medieval peasants had bad teeth. However, an archaeologist in Germany said the contrary, said they had better teeth than people today.
No, just a healthy one...........
It’s news that peasants ate pottage???
Here's a few topics from the Archaeologica page that I've not posted, some I probably won't, some I just can't get to load on this machine. At least some of them may be of interest to people who enjoy history, archaeology, and general science.
Teeth health condition is inversely proportional to the amount of wheat and grain products consumed.................
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