The late Medieval and early Post-Medieval periods in England are often associated with agricultural transformation and improvement. The contentious term ‘Agricultural Revolution’ is applied to this era, though it has been assigned broadly to numerous periods from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. Zooarchaeological evidence from predominantly urban locations has demonstrated clear alterations in livestock size, shape and herd profiles from at least the fifteenth century, suggesting change in husbandry strategy. However, scarce data from rural areas has hitherto prevented a full assessment of livestock improvement in the primary centres of animal rearing. Livestock change is accompanied by historical evidence for widespread landscape alteration in the form of open field enclosure. This process has been proposed as the impetus for livestock improvement, as it potentially enabled greater control over livestock nutrition, disease and breeding.
Three rural case study sites were selected to assess this potential association between landscape enclosure and livestock change. The sites were chosen to represent a range of geographical locations and enclosure mechanisms, to examine how enclosure and livestock change varied across England. Zooarchaeological analyses, including species frequencies, age profiles and metric assessment were applied to the material from the sites, to assess the extent and timing of livestock change. This was compared to historic evidence for livestock management, as well as evidence for the type and timing of enclosure on each site.
In contrast to previous studies, the zooarchaeological evidence from the rural assemblages did not display a clear chronological trend in livestock management and size, but instead a more complicated picture of regional variation and exchange. In combination with the historic and landscape evidence, it indicated that enclosure may have influenced livestock change, but it more likely acted in combination with other factors like population, market demand, cropping innovations, and trade.
