Medieval Towns - The Archaeology of British Towns in their European Setting - John Schofield
The environment of medieval towns
Medieval Towns - The Archaeology of British Towns in their European Setting - John Schofield
John Schofield [+]
Museum of London (retired)
John Schofield is now retired from the Museum of London, and is an archaeologist writing various books and reports. He is archaeologist for St Paul's Cathedral, London, and has produced a large report 'St Paul's Cathedral before Wren', published by English Heritage in 2011. Also in 2011 he published 'London 1100-1600' for Equinox Press, in the series Archaeology of Medieval Europe, of which he is series editor. This book was awarded the London Archaeological Prize for the best archaeological publication in London in the years 2011-12, on 16 November 2012.
Alan Vince † [+]
Alan Vince worked at the Museum of London from 1980 to 1988, and then at the City of Lincoln Archaeological Unit. He was the director of Alan Vince Archaeological Consultancy based in Lincoln until his death in February 2009.
Description
This chapter reviews what urban archaeologies seek when they study the environment in which a town is situated, such as the appearance of the landscape before urbanization, the disruption to the environment caused by the initial settlement; the phases of a town's development, the social and functional status of different parts of a town and the resources on which townspeople could draw for sustenance and fuel. Topics include: - physical factors and climate - flora, insects and wild vertebrate fauna - biological characteristics of urban people: diet and disease