A stroll through the park: Evaluating the usefulness of phytolith and starch remains found on medieval sherds from Wicken, Northamptonshire, England

Survey artifacts are used by a variety of archaeologists studying any number of interesting topics. The focus of this masters thesis is to test the usefulness of paleoethnobotanical remains found on artifacts recovered during archaeological survey and to study food consumption and production patterns in medieval England. Specifically phytolith and starch grain analysis was used to determine the level of environmental contamination on fieldwalking and excavated artifacts from the medieval period in the parish of Wicken, Northamptonshire, England. In addition, a comparative collection of phytolith and starch grains found in medieval foods and weeds was created. Particular emphasis was placed upon looking for wheat, barley, oats, rye, and legume phytoliths and starch grains. The usefulness and level of contamination was determined by comparing survey artifacts and surface soil samples from Wicken with non-contaminated excavated artifacts from nearby Wyton, Cambridgeshire. The microremains from the artifacts and soil samples were examined under a microscope using standardized processing and counting methods devised at the MU paleoethnobotany lab. In addition, the phytoliths and starch grains found in the soils and artifacts from Wicken and Wyton were compared to the medieval historical records for Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire so as to better understand human consumption patterns in medieval England. Finally, the residues from the survey artifacts will be used to gain a better understanding of the relationship between the manuring hypothesis proposed by R. Jones and the development of the open-field system.;The results of this study indicate that survey artifacts have undergone some degree of contamination because the phytoliths and starch grains found on the artifacts match those found in the surrounding soil. However, the results are inconclusive because the origins of the residues on the artifacts cannot be determined with absolute certainty. The historical record for medieval Northamptonshire does not match the microfossil record found at Glebe Cottage in Wicken, Northamptonshire. The historical record for Cambridgeshire does match the microfossil record found on the artifacts from Durley Cottage, Cambridgeshire. The end result illustrates that although the historical record can be used to interpret overall food production patterns in a region, subtle variations still exist as seen with the plant microfossil record. Unfortunately, because it could not be determined if the survey artifacts were contaminated by their environment, the manuring hypothesis could not be tested. An interesting side result of this study was to demonstrate that land use practices influence phytolith taphonomy and the overall phytolith assemblage. Soils that are constantly farmed and undergo bioturbation were found to have mostly broken and redundant phytolith types. Soils that did not undergo extreme bioturbation, such as those protected by a collapsed building, contained fragile and often diagnostic types.