Plant and invertebrate remains at Goldingham Hall, Bulmer, Essex (BUL13)
Rachel Ballantyne, 19th February 2014
Introduction
One bulk soil sample has been analysed from black ash layer (30), which was found in situ at the
base of oven F.11 in Trench A. Pottery from higher layers within the oven includes Early Medieval
Sandy Ware and Hedingham Ware, which represent the 11th to 14th Centuries AD (Blinkhorn 2013).
Methods
The sample was processed by hand using bucket flotation, with the flot collected in a 300µm sieve
and the residue washed over 1mm mesh. The flot was dried and sorted under a low power binocular
microscope (x6.3–x40). The residue was also dried and then passed through a 4mm sieve; with the
larger fraction hand sorted for artefacts and ecofacts, and the smaller fraction scanned under the
same low power microscope. Identifications were made using seed atlases (Anderberg 1994;
Berggren 1981; Cappers et al. 2006) and the reference collections of the Pitt-Rivers Laboratory for
Bioarchaeology, Division of Archaeology, University of Cambridge. All taxonomic nomenclature
for plants follows Stace (1997).
Preservation
The flot is predominantly of fine charcoal and siliceous fly ash (< 500µm), which suggests that
most of the fuel was heavily charred and many less robust items have been lost to charring. The
surviving charred plant macrofossils and charcoal fragments are very well preserved, with minimal
puffing, distortion or fragmentation.
Results and discussion
A few charred twig fragments suggest that bundles of brushwood may have been used to flash fire
the oven to raise the temperature between baking sessions. Such practices are well known
(Marguerie and Hunot 2007, 1425). Spot identification of a roundwood fragment indicates hazel is
present (Corylus sp.).
The macrofossils are dominated by 23 grains of a free-threshing wheat (Triticum aestivum sensu
lato), with a further 6 grains identifiable only as wheat. The grain may derive from a compact-eared
type such as club wheat, as the grain dimensions are small; ranging between 2–2.5 mm wide by 3–
3.5mm long. However another possibility is that these are tail grains (from the tip of the ear) from a
more standard type of bread wheat.
Other seeds and fruits are infrequent and are most likely to be wild contaminants either of the oven
fuel(s) or wheat grain. Two oat seeds (Avena sp.) may be of the wild or cultivated types, whilst a
fragment of sloe/plum/cherry fruit stone (Prunus sp.) may be food waste or from the brushwood
fuel. Arable weeds are represented by seeds of vetch/wild pea (Vicia/Lathyrus sp.), corn gromwell
(Lithospermum arvense), field madder (Sherardia arvensis) and common spike-rush (Eleocharis
palustris). Of these weeds, only common spikerush provides any clear indication of past cultivation
conditions, being associated with damp to wet ground.
The heavy residue contains a number of fragments of burnt clay or daub, which may be from the
superstructure of the oven.
Conclusions
These charred remains are typical for a medieval oven (e.g. Moffett 1994) and are dominated by
brushwood fuel and grains of bread wheat, which may have been short-grained variety such as club
wheat. Other more fragile items such as kindling or an oven floor lining may be represented by the
charred remains of cereal straw. The few associated weed seeds include common spike-rush, which
suggests some of the land used for wheat cultivation was damp and prone to at least seasonal
flooding.
Recommendations
No further work is necessary on this assemblage, which is of local significance and worth
publishing in a relevant archaeological journal with a local to regional focus.
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Prof. Martin Jones for access to the resources of the Pitt-Rivers Laboratory for
Bioarchaeology, Division of Archaeology, University of Cambridge.
References
Anderberg, A.-L. 1994. Atlas of Seeds and Small Fruits of Northwest-European Plant Species. Part
4: Resedaceae–Umbelliferae. Stockholm: Swedish Museum of Natural History.
Berggren, G. 1981. Atlas of Seeds and Small Fruits of Northwest-European Plant Species, with
Morphological Descriptions. Part 3. Saliaceae – Cruciferae. Stockholm: Swedish Museum of
Natural History.
Blinkhorn, P. 2013. Pottery from Bulmer, Essex (Site BUL13). Unpublished report for ACA
Archaeology.
Cappers, R.T.J., Bekker, R.M. and Jans, J.E.A. 2006. Digitale Zadenatlas van Nederland.
Groningen: Barkhuis Publishing and Groningen University Library.
Marguerie, D. and Hunot, J.-Y. 2007. Charcoal analysis and dendrology: data from archaeological
sites in north-western France. J. Archaeol. Sci. 34, 1417–1433.
Moffett, L. 1994. ‘Charred cereals from some ovens/kilns in late Saxon Stafford and the botanical
evidence for the pre-burh economy’, pp.55–64 in J. Rackham (ed.) Environment and economy in
Anglo-Saxon England (CBA Research Report 89). York: Council for British Archaeology.
Moffett, L. 2011 ‘Food plants on archaeological sites. The nature of the archaeobotanical record’,
pp.346–360 in H. Hamerow, D.A. Hinton and S. Crawford (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of AngloSaxon Archaeology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Stace, C. 1997. New Flora of the British Isles (2nd edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Site Code
Context Number
Feature Number
Sample Number
Feature Type
BUL13
(30)
F.11
<1>
oven
Context Description
black ash
Sample volume/ litres
Fraction of flot sorted
0.4
1
Taxanomic Name and Description
CHARRED CEREAL GRAIN
Free-threshing Triticum sp. caryopsis
Triticum sp. caryopsis
Avena sp. caryopsis
CHARRED POSSIBLE FOOD PLANTS
Prunus sp. fruit-stone fragment
Vicia/Lathyrus/Pisum sp. large seed [>4mm]
CHARRED WILD SEEDS/FRUITS
Vicia/Lathyrus sp. small seed [<3mm]
Lithospermum arvense L. nutlet
Sherardia arvensis L. nutlet
Asteraceae indet. small achene [<2mm]
Eleocharis cf. palustris (L.) Roem. & Schult. seed
Poaceae indet. large caryopsis [>4mm]
Small fruit/seed indet. [<3mm]
CHARCOAL
volume charcoal / millilitres
Siliceous globules / fly ash
Small twig fragments
MOLLUSCS
Cecilioides acicula (Müller)
Indeterminate mollusc shell fragments
MATERIAL CULTURE
burnt clay/daub fragments
English Name
Free-threshing Wheat
Wheat
Wild or cultivated Oat
23
6
1+1cf.
Sloe/Wild Plums/Cherries
Vetches/Peas/Garden Peas
1
4
Vetches/Wild Peas
Field Gromwell
Field Madder
Daisy Family
Common Spike-rush
Grass Family
2
3
1
1
1
3
1
2 ml.
+++
+
Burrowing snail, probably intrusive
Table 1: Charred plant remains from Goldingham Hall, Bulmer, Essex (BUL13)
Key: * 1 or 2 items, + less than 10 items, ++ 10 to 50 items, +++ more than 50 items
Items in brackets are from the heavy residue >4mm
+
*
(++)