Provisioning Ipswich

Male red deer skull from Brandon The antlers have been removed by chopping and sawing (Credit: Doug Campana)

The Origins of Ipswich project (1974-1990) was designed to examine the history of Ipswich based on the archaeological sites that were excavated during urban redevelopment within the town. Pam Crabtree analyzed the mammal and bird bones that were recovered from 16 of these sites that date to the Middle Saxon (700-850/880 CE), Early Late Saxon (850/880-920 CE), Middle Late Saxon (920-1000 CE), and Early Medieval (1000-1150 CE) periods. The goal of the zooarchaeological study is to determine how the Anglo-Saxon and Early Medieval inhabitants of Ipswich obtained meat and other animal products. Crabtree has recently submitted a manuscript, Provisioning Ipswich, for review for the East Anglian Archaeology monograph series. Some of the Middle Saxon material from Ipswich has already been published in Middle Saxon Animal Husbandry in East Anglia (East Anglian Archaeology, 143).