Living in times of war: waste ofc.1600 from two garderobe chutes in the castle of Middelburg-in-Flanders (Belgium)

Pollen analysis of 15th century cesspits from the palace of the dukes of Burgundy in Bruges (Belgium): evidence for the use of honey from the western Mediterranean

“…Borago officinalis (borage), originating from the western Mediterranean region, was introduced to the Low Countries in the Middle Ages where it was cultivated as a kitchen herb and vegetable (van Haaster, 1997). As particularly the flowers of this plant are eaten, it is not surprising that its pollen are frequently found in medieval and post medieval cesspits ( van Haaster, 2008;Greig, 1981;De Clercq et al, 2007).…”

“…Like coriander, Anthriscus cerefolium (garden chervil) must have been a popular herb in medieval cooking as its pollen is regularly recovered from medieval and post medieval cesspits (e.g. De Clercq et al, 2007;Deforce, 2006;van Den Brink, 1988, 1989; van Haaster, 2003).…”

“…Additionally, the identification of the source from which the pollen originates in such waste deposits is less straightforward than for macro remains, which makes the interpretation of the pollen assemblage more difficult. However, the few existing pollen analyses of such contexts do provide a lot of additional information on former plant use, which could mostly not have been obtained through the study of botanical macro remains (see for example De Clercq et al, 2007;Greig, 1981Greig, , 1982bGreig, , 1994Horrocks and Best, 2004;Knights et al, 1983;Kuijper and Turner, 1992;van Den Brink, 1988, 1989; van Haaster, 2008). This is not surprising as several useful plants, especially herbs and spices can only be recovered in the form of pollen because these plants are harvested before they produce seeds, or because only vegetative parts of the plants are used.…”

Exploring an Archaeology of the Dutch War of Independence in Flanders, Belgium

“…In the late sixteenth century, the town became a military stronghold in the frontline of the Spanish-Dutch war and the castle lost its function as a noble residence. The finds in the garderobe chutes of the castle reflect this military presence (De Clercq et al 2007;Poulain et al 2013). As the established economic networks broke down during this period of war, the expression of status and identity through the consumption of food and material objects must have been difficult (De Clercq et al 2007, p. 52).…”

Defining an indicator package to allow identification of ‘cesspits’ in the archaeological record

“…One thing that is quite striking, particularly for several of the privies and garderobes discussed here, is the shear quantity of whole pots, glass vessels and crockery that can be recovered from these features. For example the extensive sets of material from St. John's Street, Coventry (Colls and Mitchell, 2012), Winchester Palace, London (Seeley et al, 2007) and, most spectacularly the late medieval garderobes from the castle of Middelburg-in-Flanders, Belgium (de Clercq et al, 2007). Fragile organic remains such as leatherwork, basketry, clothing and shoes also are commonly recovered.…”