Poultry in Motion: Chickens and Other Domestic Birds in Post-Medieval Cities

Summary

Chickens, turkeys and other domestic avian taxa were brought to and sold at city markets, kept by city-dwellers for various products and contributed to the general sensory experience of being in a city. Unlike other livestock, poultry were inexpensive and possible to husband successfully within the confined spaces characteristic of city life. Little is known about poultry husbandry in the post-medieval period apart from what can be gleaned from documentary sources and research has been limited to well-documented areas (e.g. Norfolk) and trends (e.g. Christmas, herding, etc.). This has resulted in the neglect of day-to-day aspects of poultry-keeping, yet these are aspects that should be visible within the archaeological record. This paper will introduce a planned new research project into the husbandry and welfare of domestic birds in the post-medieval period and outline some of the archaeological evidence for the keeping of chickens and other poultry species within cities.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Animals in the Urban Environment AD 1500 - 1900   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2013

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 272