MADELEINE GRAY wrote:
>
> At a day school in Caerleon last weekend on early Welsh towns we were
> discussing the idea of medieval housing as squalid, with floors
> covered with filthy rushes &c: several archaeologists had seen house
> sites (particularly at Skenfrith and Trelech, both little boroughs on
> the Welsh borders) where the floors were markedly hollowed,
> presumably by repeated sweeping.
>
There is no archaeological evidence that the average medieval house (of
any part of the middle ages) had filthy floors, or were indeed in any
way not `clean' inside. The evidence actually points the other way. When
house floors are found they are generally of hard beaten earth. If this
was covered with rushes and then capped at intervals, as used to be
believed, we should find evidence of both the rushes and of domestic
debris. This does not happen. There are exceptions to not finding
debris, the most important being the Saxon and continental grubenhaus
(sunken floored dwelling). These, which average around 3 by 4 metres, by
0.5 to 0.75m deep, were once thought to be typical squalid peasant
dwellings. Excavations at sites like Mucking (Essex) and West Stow imply
they were not normal houses, but were more commonly small workshops. The
debris found is generally loomweights, although some evidence has been
found of use for metalwork. They may have been used as habitations at
various points, perhaps for slaves.
The idea of the rush-covered floor seems to be an extension of the use
of rushes as a temporary floor covering for wooden and stone floors in
elite residences. It is unclear how common this was, and the precise
purpose. It may have helped absorb spills from feasts, and helped
preserve the floors and protect them from staining. The other use of
rushes or other organic materials on medieval floors was for sleeping
pallets, but these were unlikely to have covered the whole floor. When
you think about it, a layer of rushes on the floor is likely to make it
hard to walk on, and they must have begun to smell pretty quickly.
In general, the idea of the average medieval house as squalid seems to
get its start in the Renaissance, as writers like Flavio Biondo stressed
the Middle Ages were a time of decay and decline between the golden age
of the Classical world and the golden age as revived in the Renaissance.
One thing that helped foster this myth was the finding of layers of
organic material (including decayed reeds and rushes) on top of beaten
earth floors from the Middle Ages. Early excavators expected these to be
signs of rush coverings of earth floors, and looked no further. Recent
work has, however, shown (from the insect assemblages) that these layers
represent the collapse of thatched roofs.
--
Dr. Ronald A. Ross
School of History and Welsh History
University of Wales (Bangor)
Siliwen Road
Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales. LL57 2DG
Telephone 01248-382154
E-mail [log in to unmask]
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