Stripped Naked, Flayed to the Bone and then Drowned: Settlement Failure in Coastal Scotland in the 14th and 15th Centuries

Summary

Archaeological excavation of medieval settlements in the coastal districts of Scotland has revealed significant evidence of protracted environmental impacts on their material culture exploitation regimes and domestic economies between the later 13th and early 16th centuries. These impacts are represented chiefly by shifts in the marine species being exploited or changes in the levels, species and age profiles of livestock carried on grazing-land, or trends in the suite of cultivars represented, all signifying attempts to adapt to environmental change with varying degrees of success. At several sites dispersed from Orkney to the Outer Hebrides and Buchan to Lothian, however, integrated archaeological and documentary historical research has revealed where failure to adapt practices which emerged in the MCA to the changed circumstances of the ‘little ice age’ - in soil ‘improvement’ strategies, fuel resource exploitation or construction-material management – accelerated settlement decline and contributed to system failure and abandonment in even such a resource diverse region as Scotland. This paper will discuss the consequences of adherence to traditional agricultural practices during this era of deteriorating climate, exploring particularly the impact of increased storminess on arable-intensive communities.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• IHOPE (Integrated History and Future of People on Earth) - International and interdisciplinary projects working to make the past better serve the future.   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

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