Fish for the city: meta-analysis of archaeological cod remains and the growth of London’s northern trade

The growth of medieval cities in Northern Europe placed new demands on food supply, and led to the import of fish from increasingly distant fishing grounds. Quantitative analysis of cod remains from London provides revealing insight into the changing patterns of supply that can be related to known historical events and circumstances. In particular it identifies a marked increase in imported cod from the thirteenth century AD. That trend continued into the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, after a short downturn, perhaps attributable to the impact of the Black Death, in the mid fourteenth century. The detailed pattern of fluctuating abundance illustrates the potential of archaeological information that is now available from the high-quality urban excavations conducted in London and similar centres during recent decades

The origins of intensive marine fishing in medieval Europe: the English evidence

The catastrophic impact of fishing pressure on species such as cod and herring is well documented. However, the antiquity of their intensive exploitation has not been established. Systematic catch statistics are only available for ca. 100 years, but large-scale fishing industries existed in medieval Europe and the expansion of cod fishing from the fourteenth century (first in Iceland, then in Newfoundland) played an important role in the European colonization of the Northwest Atlantic. History has demonstrated the scale of these late medieval and post-medieval fisheries, but only archaeology can illuminate earlier practices. Zooarchaeological evidence shows that the clearest changes in marine fishing in England between AD 600 and 1600 occurred rapidly around AD 1000 and involved large increases in catches of herring and cod. Surprisingly, this revolution predated the documented post-medieval expansion of England's sea fisheries and coincided with the Medieval Warm Period-when natural herring and cod productivity was probably low in the North Sea. This counterintuitive discovery can be explained by the concurrent rise of urbanism and human impacts on freshwater ecosystems. The search for 'pristine' baselines regarding marine ecosystems will thus need to employ medieval palaeoecological proxies in addition to recent fisheries data and early modern historical records

Fish for London

Previous synthesis of zooarchaeological remains from English medieval sites has shown that marine fish consumption increased, from a very low baseline, around ad 1000, a phenomenon dubbed the fish event horizon (FEH) by Barrett et al. (2004a). This change appears initially to have been linked primarily to urban sites, with widespread marine fish consumption at inland rural settlements argued to be a slightly later development (Barrett et al. 2004b; but see also Chapter 17 regarding near-coastal elite settlements). That early towns and cities led the way in the expansion of marine resource use is perhaps unsurprising, given that urban settlements almost by de nition involve a concentration of food consumers rather than producers and hence require a signi cant hinterland to meet demand. Turning to marine resources is one way to expand this resource base

The role of stored fish in England 900-1750AD; the evidence from historical and archaeological data

This thesis examines the historical and archaeological data for the consumption of herring and the gadid fishes (primarily cod, haddock, whiting, ling and hake) as stored fish cured by salting, drying and smoking. The thesis is divided into three parts, in the first part the historical evidence for developing fisheries, storage methods, marketing and consumption is discussed with an evaluation of the nutritional changes to the fish as a result of storage. In part two factors affecting fish bone preservation and recovery are presented and the authors own recording criteria. A new methodology is introduced using the documented data for portions and rations from monasteries and the forces, showing herring and the gadids by volume of fish eaten compared with the number of bones counted. Distribution of body parts as evidence for stored and fresh fish in the large gadids, hitherto only used to show processing is adapted for application to the data sample which largely represents consumption. In part three the 20 sites comprising the data sample are described. Portion and body part methods are applied to the herring and gadid bones from these assemblages. In the majority of sites herring predominate by number of bones, by portion cod becomes the primary fish in many cases. Evidence for stored codling and hake were found by body part distribution in many assemblages. The results of this study have shown that the archaeological data when expressed as a volume of fish supports the historical evidence for cod as the prime fish among these species, both as fresh and stored. Fish assemblages transcribed into portion from bone numbers present fish as a volume of food and often relegate herring, excessively favoured by bone numbers, into a subsidiary position

Ethnoichthyology of freshwater fish in Europe : a review of vanishing traditional fisheries and their cultural significance in changing landscapes from the later medieval period with a focus on northern Europe

Background: Fishing is probably one of the oldest economic activities in the history of humankind. Lakes, rivers and streams in Europe are important elements in the European landscape with a rich diversity of fish and other aquatic organisms. Artisanal fisheries have therefore been of great importance for the provision of food, but also animal feed, medicine, fertilizer and other needs. These fishermen had a deep knowledge about the waterscape and its biota. However, ethnoichthyology remains a small topic within contemporary ethnobiology in Europe. Our focus lies within northern Europe in the late medieval to modern period, but encompasses the wider area with some reference to earlier periods where informative. Method: We have reviewed a large amount of literature mainly on the relationship between man and fish in freshwaters from late medieval times (defined here as the fifteenth century) until the early twenty-first century. The main focus is on freshwater (including anadromous and catadromous) fish in northern Europe, the main area of study for both authors, though examples have been included from elsewhere to indicate the widespread importance of these fisheries. The review includes studies from various fields such as archaeology, ethnography, fish biology, geography, linguistics and osteology to map what has been studied of interest in ethnoichthyology. These data have been analysed and critically reviewed. Results: There are archaeozoological studies, studies of specialised fishers as well as artisanal fishing among the peasantry, research of folk taxonomies, fishing methods (including the use of poison) and gear, which are all of great interest for ethnoichthyology. There is also research on traditional preserving methods for fish as food and for other purposes. Of interest is the keeping of fish in wells, ponds and aquaria. However, there is still room for more research within many domains of ethnoichthyology. Conclusion: Humans have always utilized fish and other aquatic resources. Nonetheless, few ethnobiologists working within Europe are so far researching human-fish relationships. This paper demonstrates the range of research available, but also points to future studies. It is important to widen ethnobiological research in Europe to include fish

L’histoire sociale de la pêche au coup en Angleterre AD 1750-1950

La division sociale des pêcheurs à la ligne entre pêcheurs au coup (coarse anglers, utilisant des appâts) et pêcheurs sportifs (game anglers, utilisant une mouche) a évoluée au milieu du xviiie siècle, lorsque la nouvelle main-d’oeuvre de la Révolution Industrielle pêchait au coup dans les canaux et voies navigables publiques nouvellement créés. Cet article explore l’histoire de la pêche au coup, l’émergence des clubs de pêche, des eaux réglementées et des compétitions qui, ensemble, donnèrent aux pêcheurs au coup une voix en matière de gestion des eaux et de pêcheries en eau douce, voix aussi importante que celle des classes de propriétaires terriens avec qui la pêche sportive devint associée. Des données historiques du début du xxe siècle sont présentées pour démontrer le changement d’une pêcherie à appâts générale, visant une variété d’espèces d’eau douce, vers la pêcherie au coup spécialisée d’aujourd’hui, qui recherche des espèces  particulières au poids record, dont la carpe est peut-être le meilleur exemple.The social division of anglers into ‘coarse’ (using bait) and ‘game’ (using a fly) fishermen evolved in the mid-18th century as the new workforce of the Industrial Revolution angled for coarse fish on newly created canals and local public waterways. This paper explores the history of coarse angling, the rise of fishing clubs, managed waters and competition, which together gave coarse anglers a voice in water management and freshwater fisheries, as important as that of the landowning classes with whom game fishing became associated. Historical evidence from the early 20th century is presented for the change from general bait fishing for a range of freshwater species to the specialist coarse anglers of today, who seek a particular species of record weight, perhaps best exemplified by carp.</p

What Do Older Adults Seek in Their Potential Romantic Partners? Evidence from Online Personal Ads

Because of the dearth of available partners, older women looking to date may have to relax their dating standards to find a dating partner, perhaps accepting a life situation that is not what they had hoped for. However older women may be reluctant to sacrifice an often recently-gained lifestyle free of caregiving obligations. Older men, on the other hand, have a large pool of potential dating partners and do not face the same dilemma. We compared Internet dating profiles for 100 older adults and 100 younger adults, and found that older adults (and especially older women) were more selective than younger adults when it came to the age, race, religion, income, and height of a prospective dating partner. However, older adults were willing to travel substantially farther than younger adults to meet the right partner. These findings paint a clear picture of older Internet daters as eager to meet the right person, but not desperate to meet just anyone