Digging Deep Who can tell us most about medieval peasants

1
Digging DeepWho can tell us most about medieval
peasants?

• Archaeologist a person who studies the past by
  digging up objects from the ground.
• Artefact something made or used by a
  person.
• Historian someone who uses all sorts of
  evidence to study the past.
• Lord of the Manor The Lord who owned a Manor.
• Manor an area or village controlled
  by a Knight.
• Peasant a poor farm worker.
• Psalter a medieval prayer book
• Reconstruction a building or drawing made by
  using evidence from the
  past.
• Villein a peasant who had to work on
  the Lords land in return for renting land
  from the Lord of the Manor.

2
Digging DeepWho can tell us most about medieval
peasants?

• Step One The Skeletons
• Many of the skeletons were those of children.
• This tells me that
• The skeletons of the adults were about six
  centimetres
• shorter than people are today. This tells me that
  
• Many of the bone joints were worn and deformed.
• This tells me that
• The skeletons did not have tooth decay, but
  their teeth
• were quite worn. This tells me that

3
Digging DeepWho can tell us most about medieval
peasants?

• Step One The Skeletons
• Many of the skeletons were those of children.
• This tells me that living conditions must have
  been hard and that there was not
• enough food and effective medicines.
• The skeletons of the adults were about six
  centimetres shorter than people are
• today. This tells me that the diet of medieval
  people was not as good as that
• eaten by modern people.
• Many of the bone joints were worn and deformed.
  This tells me that the
• medieval villagers must have worked very hard.
• The skeletons did not have tooth decay, but
  their teeth were quite worn. This
• tells me that medieval people did not eat many
  sweet foods as a part of their
• diet. Their food must have been less processed
  than todays foodstuffs.

4
Digging DeepWho can tell us most about medieval
peasants?

• Step One Aerial Photograph
• The aerial photograph tells me quite a lot about
  Wharram Percy. In the photograph I can see the .
• Step One Digs of the Peasant Houses
• The digs of peasant houses recovered some
  interesting artefacts. These are
• These artefacts have made it possible for an
  artist to produce a reconstruction. The house had
  

5
Digging DeepWho can tell us most about medieval
peasants?

• Step One Aerial Photograph
• The aerial photograph tells me quite a lot about
  Wharram Percy. In the
• photograph I can see the outlines of the
  peasants houses as well as the edges
• of the fields and where there were roads.
• Step One Digs of Peasant Houses
• The digs of peasant houses recovered some
  interesting
• artefacts. These are clay pots, a needle and a
  comb made out of bone
• as well as a metal clasp and the blade of a
  sickle. These tell me that
• These artefacts have made it possible for an
  artist to produce a
• reconstruction. The house had a cruck roof,
  wattle and daub walls, a floor of
• beaten earth and a central fire place. There was
  very little furniture and in the
• winter the animals shared it with the people.
  This tells me that

6
Digging DeepWho can tell us most about medieval
peasants?

• Step Two The Luttrell Psalter
• Different Jobs
• In the pictures from the Luttrell Psalter I can
  see peasants .
• Tools and Equipment
• In the pictures from the Luttrell Psalter I can
  see peasants using .
• Mens work and Womens work
• In the pictures from the Luttrell Psalter I can
  see men . and I can see
• women .

7
Digging DeepWho can tell us most about medieval
peasants?

• Step Two The Luttrell Psalter
• Different Jobs
• In the pictures from the Luttrell Psalter I can
  see peasants breaking up
• stones, cutting, threshing and milling corn.
• Tools and Equipment
• In the pictures from the Luttrell Psalter I can
  see peasants using sledge hammers, sickles,
  flails and a windmill.
• Mens work and Womens work
• In the pictures from the Luttrell Psalter I can
  see men working with
• sledge hammers, flails and in a mill. Men did the
  jobs that were
• I can see women harvesting corn and a woman
  begging. Some jobs
• were shared by men and women, for instance

8
Digging DeepWho can tell us most about medieval
peasants?

• Step Three The Chatteris Court Rolls
• Freemen and Villeins
• Freemen and Villeins were forced to attend the
  manorial court. The records
• kept in the manor of Chatteris tell us a lot
  about the control the Lord had of the
• peasants. They could not . and they had to ask
  permission
• Manorial Courts
• Manorial courts were used by the Lord of the
  Manor to keep the peasants
• under control. The types of things that they did
  wrong were
• How the Abbess of Chatteris controlled her
  Peasants
• The Abbess used fines to control her peasants.
  Some examples of these are ...

9
Digging DeepWho can tell us most about medieval
peasants?

• Step Three The Chatteris Court Rolls
• Freemen and Villeins
• Freemen and Villeins were forced to attend the
  manorial court. The records
• kept in the manor of Chatteris tell us a lot
  about the control the Lord had of the
• peasants. They could not leave the village
  without the Lords consent and they
• had to ask permission from the Lord to get
  married.
• Manorial Courts
• Manorial courts were used by the Lord of the
  Manor to keep the peasants
• under control. The types of things that they did
  wrong were to make and sell
• ale, plough up a footpath, set fish traps in
  private waters and refuse to
• thresh the Lords corn.
• How the Abbess of Chatteris controlled her
  Peasants
• The Abbess used fines to control her peasants.
  Some examples of these are
• 6d for brewing beer, 4d for becoming a priest
  without permission, 2d for
• illegally setting fish traps and 3 for careless
  driving. The largest fines were for
• crimes that were