The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca

Middle Ages: towns
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archaeological work, particularly on the spectacular array of objects found in dated contexts on
waterfront sites, is showing the popularity of shoddy, mass-produced items in base metals, especially
after 1300, and allows researchers to identify the varied quality of products of the various traditions
of manufacture mentioned in documents.
A second area to develop is that of the town as an economic unit: in distinction to the surrounding
countryside, the economy of an urban place will be non-agricultural, will use coins or tokens (Figure
12.7) instead of barter or exchange, and, at least up to 1500, will not yet have the features of
industrialization that were to follow. How much did kings and nobles use towns to control the
redistribution of significant goods—not only luxuries, but necessities such as food? Although there
were probably no factories in medieval British towns, we should study the history of technology
and see if towns had any role in spreading innovation or new techniques of production. This will
mean more emphasis on the medieval consumer than on production or manufacturing sites.
Thirdly, archaeological investigation of medieval towns may bring to light medieval beliefs,
superstitions and evidence of ritual (both religious and secular, for instance processions that
brought together all the townsfolk) and may suggest how medieval people constructed their
public and private worlds (Schofield and Vince 1994, 89–98). Sacred and profane spaces can be
recognized; the medieval concepts of ‘clean’ and ‘dirty’, ‘male’ and ‘female’ might be deduced
from the internal arrangement of buildings or the distribution of artefacts.
Between 1100 and 1340, a new urban society came into being in British towns. Much of
this development was in the twelfth century, as shown by the expansion of suburbs and
waterfront areas, new stone houses, and the birth of a consumer culture. At the same time,
towns were largely driven by the institutions or noble power centres within them, which were
large constructions—castles, monasteries and lords’ houses. They used towns to get luxuries,
Figure 12.7 Late thirteenth-century tokens found on the London waterfront near Billingsgate. They were
probably used as fractions of pence, prior to the official issue of halfpence and farthings. They bridged the
gap between official coins and the ancient practice of bartering and exchange of goods, and by their
presence show the increasing commercialization of medieval towns and the demand for small coins or
something like them.
Source: Museum of London Archaeology Service